


how to kiss a wizard

by bigpapimafia



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Gay, M/M, Short
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29588010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigpapimafia/pseuds/bigpapimafia
Summary: With all the time he spends fighting for his life, Harry discovers how outdated his flirting skills are and who better to help than Draco Malfoy, his school enemy?orwhere Harry finds help in the place, or person, he'd least expect to.(this book was originally on wattpad)
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 15
Kudos: 42





	1. first kisses

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [How To Kiss A Wizard](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/764994) by Reasonstosmileathome. 



> This fic takes place in their fifth year of Hogwarts. It's not going to follow the exact plot of the Harry Potter books but there may be bits I use from the book that are similar.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> harry gives draco an impossible offer that he decides to accept, making harry’s life that much more difficult.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so just to clear things up, i am the author of this book from wattpad but i decided to modify and improve my previous writing so this still goes by the plot of the wattpad one, but there may be aspects that are added or taken out. in addition, in this chapter, it may seem like harry is calling draco by his first name in his 'thoughts' and vice versa, but it was just to make it less confusing so i wouldn't have to switch from Malfoy to Draco or Potter to Harry so they still refer to each other by their last names. If this doesn't make sense to you, don't worry ahah. 
> 
> Apart from that, enjoy this chapter :)

**Third person POV:**

"Let's just get this over with then." Hermione sighed as she closed her eyes, slowly leaning forward to Harry.

Harry could see Hermione's face crinkle up as their lips got closer and closer to each other until at the last second, Harry shook his head and stood up abruptly, causing Hermione to almost fall over into the air where Harry was sitting before.

"I love you Hermione but I just— I can't do this with you."

Inside, Hermione was delighted that she hadn't had to kiss someone who she saw more as a brother, but she also felt for Harry who looked distraught. "I don't fully understand why you wanted to kiss me in the first place."

Harry sighed and sat down again. "Because my kissing skills are terrible. Absolutely abominable." Hermione opened her mouth again, ready to protest but Harry read her mind and began to speak again. "I've been told by many."

Hermione stayed silent for a bit, taking in the helpless look Harry had, "And you wanted me to prove this or...?"

"No, I wanted help." Harry could see how clouded his judgement was but he was desperate. He was sure Hermione suspected there was something else that was causing him to do this and of course, she was right.

He liked Ginny.

Not the friendship like, but the relationship kind.

So how was he expected to use his terrible kissing skills on her? He was the boy who lived for Merlin's sake, he should also be the boy who kissed well.

"Although I believe this is highly dumb, and I personally think you should wait until the right person comes, if you are going to-" Hermione paused, searching for the right word. "-practise, practise with someone you're not close to, therefore, less feelings attached. That's why you couldn't do it with me, we're too close as friends."

The cogs in Harry's brain immediately started to turn, searching the contact book of his brain to locate someone who he wasn't too close to, and able to kiss without catching feelings.

Many names popped out in the darkness but one stuck out the most and almost straight away, he got up. "Oh Merlin Hermione, you're a life saver." He gave her a quick hug, catching her so off guard that she was unable to do anything but let her arms hang to the side and as soon as the hug began, it was already over. "Sorry about before." Was the last thing Harry said to her before he disappeared under the invincibility cloak.

Harry headed up to the astronomy tower, the confidence that he had before slowly leaving with each step he took. He had just started to agree with Hermione's theory that waiting for the right person was the road to follow when he realised he was already where he needed to be.

There stood Draco with his back turned to the world, stargazing out the window. Harry forgot all about his big revealing plan until a voice cut through the silence.

"Potter." Draco's voice was sharp, a knife through the air.

Harry sheepishly shrugged off the cloak, noticing that Draco didn't make any move to turn around, increasing his confusion even more. "How did you know it was me?"

"Just because you're invisible, Potter, does not mean you are soundless. Anybody would be able to tell with those clunky footsteps of yours." Draco turned around, Harry instantly seeing the bags under Draco's paler-than-usual skin.

Draco sensed Harry's inquisitive stare and looked away. "What do you want then?"

"I need help."

"Don't we all?" Draco stated the joke with such seriousness that it took Harry seconds, feeling like minutes, before his face broke out into a smile, a heavy laugh pouring out.

"Draco Malfoy—" Draco almost flinched at the use of his first name coming out from Harry's mouth but played it off by scratching his arm."—did you just make a joke with me?"

"Take it as you want." He simply replied, communicating for Harry to continue speaking. To elaborate on what he meant by needing help.

"Well I- Uh, I was– You know..." Harry hopelessly stuttered over every word he could, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Spit it out, we don't have all day."

"I need you to teach me how to kiss." He blurted out.

The way to describe how Draco reacted would be engrained in his memories forever. Blood rushed through his pale cheeks as his mouth slightly hung open a bit, his eyes widening. He was rendered speechless, attempting to grasp any words in the English vocabulary he could but none came.

"Say something... please." Harry pleaded quietly. He hadn't wanted the urgency to come out in his voice yet it had.

Draco quickly regained his posture, standing up straight with that usual sneering look he gave. "Give me one reason why I should help you, _Potter_." The venom in Potter was even worse than all of the other times.

There were no good reasons that Harry could give to convince the Slytherin. Even he, a Gryffindor, would be entirely confused if Draco one day came strolling up to him and asked for a kiss.

"It would be nice?"

Draco shook his head in disbelief at the brown haired boy, wondering if he had somehow been drugged with a love potion. He was tempted to pull out his wand but resisted the desire to, and stayed with his hands by his side, his fingers itching to pull his wand out in the case of an emergency.

"It's just, please don't laugh but... I've been told my kissing techniques aren't the best by uh-" Harry cleared his throat, drowning in the awkwardness. "-a lot of people? So I needed help and that's where you came into the equation."

Draco wanted to laugh at the irony of the Chosen One asking him to help with flirting skills but Harry's look was sincere, also being very ashamed.

"I don't understand. Why ask _me_ to kiss _you_ when number one, you and I-" Draco pointed between the two of them. " - are basically enemies and number two, I am a boy if you have not noticed, unless the Chosen one is a fairy."

Harry winced at his word choice, but it was Draco Malfoy he was talking about. The boy obsessed with blood status; of course he wouldn't be fully open to the idea of two boys kissing. "It's not that I want to necessarily kiss you, it's that I want to practise and since we're not friends, there's no feelings attached."

The silence was deafening as Draco assessed the situation, checking Harry out in an obvious manner, weighing the options against each other. Harry started to slightly rock back on his feet and felt the regrets wash over him when Draco still remained silent. If he was going to say no, he could just say it straight away so Harry could move on, find another person, and maybe bathe in his embarrassment for a day or two before blocking it out of his memories.

Draco spotted Harry's indecisiveness and understood he needed to answer or Harry would bolt out on him at any second. "What's in it for me?"

Another typical Slytherin response.

Harry tried his best to not let the irritated expression show on his face, but Draco must've noticed, raising a brow at him as if to say _Who are you to judge me for asking that?_

"I- Er I didn't exactly think about that." Harry admitted. He had already thrown his feelings out into the air and it was clear Draco had the power here; Harry was just his puppet, waiting for the next move.

Draco scoffed, shaking his head and staring into those once defiant green eyes, seeming more hesitant. "So you expected me to bow down and do what you ask _just_ because you're Harry Potter?"

"No." Harry redirected his glare to the ground, keeping his answer short.

Draco's ego was already overinflated but this was just the highlight of it all. Seeing Harry look so... powerless. It turned something on in him.

"So what did you expect then? Because it sure seemed like you didn't have a plan." Draco stepped closer towards Harry who did the opposite, going back towards the wall.

"No." Harry repeated firmer this time, but it had no effect on Draco who found it amusing, seeing as Harry wasn't explaining anything more.

"What was it then? I'm still waiting for answer."

Harry came to a stop at the wall, glancing up to see Draco staring back at him, taunting him. "I just— I don't know Malfoy, just say if you'll help me already so I can know whether I'm leaving or staying."

"But that wouldn't be as much fun, _Potter_." Draco let the Potter run off his tongue smoothly, clearly enunciating every syllable in an over exaggerated way. Harry felt a weird tingle run up his spine but brushed it away.

He was probably cold.

"Is that a yes then?"

"I already asked once. What do I get in return?"

"Ugh for fuck's- I don't know Malfoy, what do you even bloody want? A snake or something? Or maybe a handshake would better satisfy you?" Harry snapped. He was just fed up. (He'd even rather be back where he was before, attempting to kiss Hermione.)

Draco nodded slowly, seemingly unaffected by Harry's sudden outburst. "Hm."

Before Harry could even stop himself, all the words he had kept locked in his head began to tumble out in a disarray, "I should've just asked someone else. I didn't think you were going to be this difficult though who was I kidding? It's obvious you'd never want to help me, I don't know why I didn't remember that you'd rather humiliate me then be seen-"

Harry was saying until a pair of soft lips met his.

The first instinct for Harry was to freeze, becoming a still statue. Draco assumed it was the shock at first, but when a few seconds passed, and Harry still wasn't making any moves, Draco pulled away. "Wow Potter, you really are that shit at kissing."

"I didn't expect it." Harry breathed out, his eyes still darting to Draco's slightly puffier lips.

"Expect the unexpected." Draco moved away from Harry. "Because I sure didn't." He muttered to himself. Harry really was crap at kissing, but Draco still felt as if the confusion played a huge role in his freezing.

"Can we... can we try again?" Harry plucked up the courage, hearing 'bloody Gryffindors... always brave' but ignored it, assuming Draco hadn't wanted him to hear it.

"Are you going to freeze again?"

Harry didn't trust his voice to speak so shook his head, rubbing his palms on his trousers and watching as Draco came closer to him.

Unlike with Hermione, he didn't feel the need to pull away, instead, his focus was fixed on Draco's lips as he licked his own in anticipation. Draco noted Harry's eagerness and internalised a smirk as the gap between their lips closed for the second time that day.

  
  



	2. scared, potter?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's mind is occupied with thoughts of Draco, but in order for him to keep it a secret, he may need to be more cautious about when, and where, he gets closer to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i apologise in advance for these quite short chapters but hope you enjoy reading them anyways :)

**Harry POV:**

All my thoughts centred back to the kiss; as expected, I hadn't suddenly been an expert, but it was better than the first one, I actually being able to enjoy the feeling of Malfoy's lips moving against mine.

"Harry James Potter, are you even listening to me?" Hermione scolded as we walked to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Thanks Hermione for interrupting my pleasant daydream.

"I am, I swear, I've just got a lot on my mind." I kept the truth to myself, not yet prepared for Hermione to learn of my upcoming deal with Malfoy.

Hermione stayed quiet, staring at me intensely as if she was casting Legilimency on me which I prayed she couldn't do. "What's on your mind? Maybe I can help." She kindly offered, but just like yesterday, there was nothing Hermione could do to help me.

So I lied.

Blurting out the first- actually, second, name that came to mind.

"Ginny."

So blinded by her excitement, Hermione didn't pick up on my lie at all, instead smiling brightly, colourful words flying out of her mouth that I didn't exactly feel the need to listen to.

"I knew this would happen, I knew it."

"Yeah." I agreed with her half-heartedly. If Ginny was the way to get Hermione off my back, then I would follow it gladly. This thing with Malfoy... I needed to fully come to terms with it myself before having a curious Hermione hitting me with question after question.

Whilst Hermione projected her elation, I glanced over at the Slytherin table, catching Malfoy laughing at something Parkinson was saying. Seeing Malfoy laugh was a rare occasion. It was almost... _cute_ , but also weird, very weird. Parkinson leaned closer to him, creating a whole lot of questions swarming around my head.

Were they together?

They couldn't be though, I answered for myself, he wouldn't have done what he did yesterday.

He wasn't a cheater... and I wasn't a relationship breaker.

As if he sensed my stare, his head turned towards me, ice grey eyes meeting mine, his smile leaving straight away. A frown formed before quickly turning into a smirk... then he winked.

Draco Malfoy winked at me.

Was I hallucinating or...? I wanted to rub my eyes, just to confirm what I was seeing, but I fought the urge to do that, knowing how out of place I would seem.

"Harry!" Hermione's slightly irritated voice instantly moved my gaze back to her chocolate coloured eyes, missing the grey ones from before. "When are you going to ask her out?"

"Well-" I was about to speak when a scowling Ron came storming up to the table, almost knocking over my pumpkin juice.

"Does anyone care to tell me why nobody woke me up?"

"Of course." Hermione responded calmly. "You told us many times to bog off because you were too tired to get up."

I nodded my head in agreement, Ron seeming to be satisfied by that answer, when the image of Malfoy winking came into my head causing me to choke on the food I hadn't even began to eat.

"Whoa, Harry, you all right? You're looking a bit red." Ron had already started to dig into his breakfast, his voice coming out muffled by all the food in his mouth. Hermione cringed at Ron's table manners; in fact, the lack of them.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just-" Malfoy's face flashed into my mind; more specifically, his lips. Merlin, I needed to walk this off. "I need to get my Potions homework." I lied, knowing fully well I had stuffed it into my robe's pocket this morning. Nevertheless, nobody else knew, so I stood up, dismissing Hermione's reprimands of me being unorganised, and walked out.

Malfoy wasn't the one I liked, it was Ginny.

Ginny. Yes.

She was beautiful; everything a boy could want. I wasn't the only one with a crush though, I could see the way Dean would look at her, eyeing her whenever he thought nobody was watching. My fists clenched thinking of Ginny being with someone else. Never would I sit back and willingly watch that, but how was I to win Ginny over with the alert eyes of Ron?

He'd, without a doubt, be furious at me, and fire any insults he could at me. I didn't want to lose him as a friend again.

"A lot on your mind, Potter?" A voice called out from behind me.

Just perfect.

Another worry to add onto the list: dealing with Malfoy.

"None of your business, Malfoy." I carried on walking, praying that he'd take the hint, and for once in his life, act as a decent human being, but he didn't. Instead, I heard his footsteps coming closer towards me before he grabbed my shoulder, pushing me roughly against the wall.

"Actually, I do believe it is my business."

"Why would it be?" I snapped back, watching his trademark smirk appear again. 

"In the Great Hall. I saw you looking."

"Yeah, so what? My eyes just happened to meet yours."

"Uh huh." Malfoy nodded slowly. "You really think I'm that foolish to believe that's the truth?"

"I don't care what you believe."

"Looks like you've got your feistiness back." I felt him touch my robes and was about to look down when he placed his fingers under my chin, forcing me to look back up. I hadn't realised how close he had gotten and the words that I had been planning on saying were all swallowed back down. I didn't want to, I really didn't want to, but as Malfoy licked his lips, my stare went to them, being reminded of how soft they were on mine the night before. As soon as that thought ran through my head, I quickly turned my head to the side, feeling uncomfortable by my own thoughts. Malfoy being the bastard he was, noticed and grabbed my face, turning it to face his. And if it wasn't just my imagination making it up, I could've sworn it was like he was about to kiss me, but as if he realised where he was, he stopped, instead leaning in for his lips to brush my ear. "Scared, Potter?" He teased, but his voice didn't have the same tone to it as before. 

Before I could even utter a 'you wish', Malfoy had pulled away, no longer looking at me. "See you in potions." He seemed like he wanted to say something else but he just walked away, leaving me leaning against the wall. I shook my head, as if shaking off everything that had just happened, but the distinct smell of mint still lingered in the air. Maybe next time I would just stay in the Great Hall; it sure seemed like the safer option. 


	3. accidents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry discovers that paying attention in class is key for avoiding embarrassment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in the original fic, this chapter is called hair gel but I changed quite a lot so of course, the name had to change too. anyways, enjoy reading!

**Third Person POV:**

"Why'd you leave? I saw you go in the same direction as Potter." Pansy quizzed Draco as they walked into their potions class.

"I went to the toilet." Draco simply answered, ignoring the look she gave him.

"But..." She started to speak but Draco zoned out her voice, searching for that one Gryffindor.

The seat next to Hermione was empty, where Harry usually sat, but it wasn't surprising to not see him there. Hermione, mistaking Draco for looking at her, glared at him before opening her book. Draco rolled his eyes at the try hard but went and sat down next to Blaise, waiting for Professor Snape to come.

As soon as he came in, the class went silent, Draco noticing that Harry still hadn't come yet, most likely still looking for his homework that lay comfortably on Draco's desk. Merlin, that boy was easy to distract, it was a surprise he had even gotten this far.

Snape's attentive eyes surveyed the class, glaring at the empty desk where Harry was meant to be before he redirected his glare to Hermione. "Miss Granger, where is–" Snape was in the middle of asking when a disgruntled Harry came running in, coming to a full stop next to Snape.

Harry's face was red, his uniform messy and his hair dishevelled... as if he had just come back from a quick shag in a classroom. Many others thought the same, whispers erupting around the classroom with a lot of snickers coming from the Slytherins, especially one, but before Harry could glower at him, Snape was already scolding him.

"–minutes late so that'll be ten points off of Gryffindor and since you're at the front of the class, I presume you'll be able to hand in your homework now." Snape held out his hand towards a sheepish Harry who had started to fidget, trying to find the right words to say under Snape's intense stare.

"Well, you see I, er-" Harry stuttered before giving in. "I lost it." He mumbled.

"Speak up." Snape ordered although Harry was sure he heard. "I lost it." Harry said louder, hearing a few gasps coming from where the Hufflepuffs were sitting.

"Twenty extra points from Gryffindor for Potter's lack of organisation." A loud series of groans and murmurs came from the class but Snape simply ignored it. "Go sit down."

Harry didn't look at the rest of the class' scowling faces, blaming Harry for putting Snape in a worse mood, and only saw Hermione's disappointed expression causing him to feel even worse. It wasn't even his fault though, he had definitely done his homework and rolled it up, keeping it in his pockets. (A silly mistake now that he thought about it but it was too late for that.) Then he had left the Great Hall with it and—

No.

That scheming motherfuc—

"Potter, I do advise you concentrate."

Harry nodded, resisting the urge to roll his eyes and rested the side of his head on his hand, half listening to what Snape was saying about a potion they were going to make. All he got from Snape's explanation was that it had something to do with peace; a state of mind that Harry was not in right now.

"Harry!" Hermione whisper-yelled, getting Harry's attention as he realised she, and many other of his classmates, were standing up. Harry got up and stood next to her but she shook her head, confusing him even more. "Oh Harry, were you not listening at all?"

"What is it?"

Hermione sighed but explained anyways, "You're with Malfoy. Professor Snape switched the order in how he picked the partners." She whispered, glancing to where Snape was standing to ensure he wasn't looking. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Harry was about to answer when Snape looked their way with an expectant look on his face, making Hermione go to her partner, and Harry, unfortunately, to his own partner too.

"Time sure isn't your greatest asset." Draco welcomed an angry Harry who rolled his eyes at him, staying quiet. "Go get the ingredients then."

"Why me?" Harry immediately protested; he wasn't going to accept being treated like one of Draco's house elves.

Draco expected Harry's response, not even batting an eyelid at Harry's smouldering glare. "I don't know if you've noticed yet, but Snape is currently staring daggers into your soul right now–" Harry turned his head and realised Draco was right. "–so unless you want Gryffindor to go down to minus points, I suggest you get those ingredients like I said." Draco gave Harry a superficial smile, irking Harry even more who forced himself to not storm over to where the ingredients were.

There, Draco could see Harry and Ron discussing something, Ron turning around once to frown at Draco whilst Harry shook his head. Harry probably would've spent his whole time there if he could've but Snape was truly watching him, threatening to take points off of Gryffindor _again_ if they didn't hurry up. Harry quickly grabbed the ingredients and grudgingly walked back to Draco, unaware that Draco had been observing him that whole time.

Harry didn't make any effort to talk first so Draco gladly welcomed the idea of a silent Harry and started to speak. "Since you're so incompetent, I'll make the potion, you watch."

"Actually Mr Malfoy, Potter will, I need to talk to you separately." Draco's smirk faded as Snape stood in front of their desk, but Harry wasn't in the mood to analyse or feel any sympathy for Draco. Served the git right, he thought to himself. So blinded by his irritation, Harry didn't double check the amounts he measured, and didn't even bother to look at anybody else's cauldrons. He knew he was being a bit careless, but the potion actually smelt good, almost like a minty smell. Was it meant to be this colour though? It looked familiar. Harry pushed those thoughts aside and glanced quickly to both sides, checking to make sure nobody was watching, then quickly dipped a finger in, bringing it to his mouth and tasting it.

The taste was almost bittersweet— he would sure love some pumpkin juice right now to wash it down— but since he still felt relatively normal; no missing fingers or his teeth growing long like a beaver, like Hermione's once did, he shrugged, feeling okay with himself.

"I have a grave feeling you've messed up already." Harry looked up to see Draco, and instead of noticing the way Draco's previous confidence seemed to have deteriorated or being ready to prove to Draco how well he had done the potion by himself, he found himself falling hard for him.

Did he always look this pretty?

"Potter." Draco called for his attention but he still had that dazed look of his. " _Potter_!" He hissed, shaking his shoulder. Harry looked down at the point of contact, grinning before spontaneously flinging himself into Draco's arms, proclaiming his love for him.

Instantly, the class went silent, everybody watching the miracle of a lifetime:

Draco Malfoy hugging Harry Potter.

Or the other way around, depending on the angle, and on who would be the one telling the story of this day.

Naturally, Draco tried to push Harry off of him but it was as if the boy had grown super strength, holding him tightly and snuggling his head into Draco's neck. "I love you so much Draco. Wow, can I call you Draco? Draco is such a beautiful name to suit such a beautiful face like yours." Harry rambled into Draco's neck before pulling away so they came face face to face. "Your skin is so smooth, like a baby's, but you're not a baby, unless you want to be my baby, _oh_ , and your hair, what products do you use? I'd love to run my hands through your hair all day if I could." In the middle of speaking, Harry had started to poke Draco's flushed cheeks whilst Draco stood still.

He didn't know what to do. Where was Snape when he was actually needed?

Snape eventually realised the silence and glanced up to see Harry holding onto Draco's arm, almost like he was tipsy. "Potter! Completely inappropriate behaviour in my class." Snape stomped over to them, looking into the cauldron, and immediately recognising the distinct mother-of-pearl sheen. He was about to tell Harry off again, but knew there to be no point since the boy was so obviously not in the right headspace to be getting lectured, so he turned and faced the rest of the class' beady eyes. "Class dismissed early. Either head back to your common rooms or wait silently for your next class. Leave your homework on my desk." Snape ordered, adding an extra "now" when people were still staring at Harry running his hand through Draco's hair.

The class started to empty out, Ron and Hermione taking their time to leave. "What's wrong with him?" Ron questioned Hermione as Snape turned his back to them.

"I believe he's accidentally brewed a love potion, though I'm not sure how he didn't realise, or how he was able to get affected by it. Amortentia is a difficult—"

"Miss Granger and Mr Weasley, out now. You'll see your friend later." Snape's voice was stern, not turning around to face them.

Hermione and Ron gave one last look to Harry but he didn't even spare a glance at them as they walked out.

"What's wrong with him?" Draco had heard Hermione's theory and although he knew there was a high chance she was right, and that seemed like the most valid reason for why Harry was acting like this, he didn't want to agree with the mudblood. Draco finally managed to push Harry off of him and stood at the other side of the room.

"Amortentia. The boy has gone and messed up the simple draught of peace potion." Snape stood between Draco and Harry. Draco wanted to mention that the potion wasn't as simple as he had said, but it would make it seem like he was sticking up for Harry; which he definitely wasn't. "I'll have to brew the antidote."

Draco hesitated on his words, unwilling to say something too rude. "How long would that take then?"

Snape gave him a blank stare and didn't say anything, the silence being his answer. Draco allowed Snape get to work whilst simultaneously trying to stay away from Harry who was chasing him around the classroom.

"I can't concentrate if the two of you are acting like first years. Stay in one place." Snape chided. 

"But he's so... he- I don't want him near me." Draco knew he was whining, and with no response from Snape, he reluctantly stopped running and stayed in one place, Harry automatically catching up to him, standing by his side. Harry grabbed Draco's hand, squeezing it tightly then let go to cup Draco's cheeks. "Can I kiss you again? I really really really really want to." 

At the 'again', Snape raised a brow but once again kept quiet. 

"Shut up Potter." Draco tried to peek to see if Snape was watching them but Harry turned Draco's face back to his, his pupils dilated. Harry leaned in, focussed on Draco's lips but Draco tried his best to pull away, backing into a desk; he was not going to kiss an infatuated Harry, especially with Snape standing less than 5 feet away from them. "Please, just one, I promise." Harry pleaded.

"No, stop it." Draco shook his head, desperately trying to communicate to Snape with his mind to hurry up. "Er- how long until it's ready?" 

"Nearly." Was Snape's short answer, but nearly was still too long. 

"Look, if you get off me now-" Draco's eyes darted to the side before he lowered his voice so that hopefully only Harry would hear. "I'll give you unlimited kisses once you've drank that potion Snape's making." Draco cringed at the thought of that but Harry immediately perked up, stepping away from Draco who was able to take a breath of relief. 

"Really Draco? Oh I can't wait Draco. Draco, Draco, Draco, my love, Draco Drac-" Harry had started to bust out into some song and Draco couldn't decide if the song was even worse than Harry trying to forcefully kiss him. 

"Shut up or I'll take it back." Draco snapped, Harry going silent for only a few moments before he carried on mumbling his self-written song. 

It only took a few minutes more for Snape to finish the antidote but for Draco, it had felt like years. Harry had still stood extremely close to him, sometimes brushing his hand with Draco's and it had taken every muscle in him to not shout at Harry again. When asked how effective and safe the antidote was by Draco, Snape had simply shrugged whilst Harry drank it up quickly, still expecting unlimited kisses from Draco after. 

The dazed look on Harry left almost instantly as his eyes went wide, glancing at Snape's still-blank-face and Draco's almost horrified one. He didn't know what to say or do, in fact, he just wanted to pretend he was still under the spell just so he wouldn't have to think about his actions. "Potter?" Draco spoke almost hesitantly, his voice low.

Harry felt like his head was spinning, Draco and Snape's voice attacking him from all corners as his legs started to feel like jelly. 

So what did Harry's body decide to do?

It decided to faint. 

Right in front of Draco and Snape. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the sake of this book, the love potion works by if u drink or taste it, the first person u look at is who u fall in love with unlike the og plot where it has to be received by the person for u to fall in love with them :)


	4. sexuality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco opens up to a confused Harry who is having second thoughts about his sexuality.

**Third Person POV:**

Harry walked back by himself from Madam Pomfrey, heading to his room. He was still suffocating in the shame of today's events and had lied to Madam Pomfrey saying he still felt a bit woozy, blaming it on the antidote's aftereffects. 

In truth, he did still feel faint, but not because of the potion.

He felt faint because he couldn't shake the fact that he had _liked_ being that close to Draco... but only if you could minus the audience that had been watching _and_ the other small fact of him accidentally drugging himself.

Sitting on his bed, he truly took in his thoughts.

Draco was a boy, (of course), but so was Harry, (another obvious observation).

He didn't think he had ever liked a boy before in that way.

Who even was he anymore? He had enjoyed kissing a boy _and_ was ready to kiss him again.

And Draco of all boys.

Why couldn't he have liked kissing someone who was kind, not actively out to get him? Someone who didn't steal his homework on purpose or hold a grudge against him because he didn't accept a handshake from when they were eleven.

Straight...?

Gay...?

Bisexual...?

Even pansexual...?

What were the point of these labels? They just further confused his already jumbled up mind.

If he were to ask Hermione, she'd be more occupied on who the boy was that had alerted Harry to start questioning his own sexuality and he was definitely not ready to talk to her about the Malfoy plan. Ron on the other hand... well, Ron would be Ron: he'd probably ask if Harry had a crush on him.

Harry was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even realised Ron and the others had come back until Ron's voice popped up in the silence. "Hey Harry, you coming to dinner?" Harry's curtains were closed, thank God, so Ron didn't see the way Harry's cheeks reddened.

"Uh no, it's okay. I still feel a bit sick."

It went quiet but Harry knew Ron was still there, hearing the sound of his feet moving. "You know, we don't judge you for what happened in potions today."

Harry felt the mortification rush through him as he forced his voice to stay in control, not wanting to alert Ron. "Yeah, it's fine. Honestly. I should've paid more attention."

Ron didn't catch Harry's cue for him to stop talking about what had happened and carried on, "Malfoy's a little git. We'll get him back."

"It's fine." Harry repeated, remembering what he had just been thinking about. How did he expect to tell his friends about something as big as this when he couldn't even talk about what had happened in class today? "I heard there's bacon sandwiches at dinner." Harry knew this to be a total lie but Ron didn't pick up on it, uttering a small goodbye and that he'd be back before running out, leaving Harry in silence again.

Harry stayed lying down on his bed for a few minutes before deciding he had stayed there for too long, getting up and grabbing his invisibility cloak.

Just in case.

He definitely wouldn't go to the Great Hall, unprepared for the rumours that would be circling, most likely about the fiasco that had happened in Potions and instead headed up to somewhere he knew would be empty.

Well, mostly empty.

He would never truly admit it, but as much as he could say he didn't want to see Draco ever again, it wouldn't feel the same without his constant ridicules. However, as Harry got closer and closer, his embarrassment, and temporary kindness for Draco, had started to switch to anger, remembering the events that had led up to him drugging himself.

It was all Draco's fault, definitely. If he hadn't of stolen Harry's homework, then Harry wouldn't have been late, then Snape wouldn't have been in an even worse mood and Harry wouldn't have been so angry and stupidly messed up the potion so yes, it all started with Draco.

Harry's anger had been stored up, but was now ready for release, so when he got to the top of the astronomy tower, he wasn't ready to even wait a second before letting it all out.

"Come back to give another love confession Potter?" Draco didn't even need to turn around to know who it was, something Harry would never understand: how good his sixth sense was.

Harry was momentarily stunned by the Slytherin boy who was sitting down, but quickly remembered why he had practically stormed up all the way here. "No, definitely not, and I'm being civil here by apologising for how I practically er- molested you, I really wasn't in my right mind so sorry about that.

" _Sorry about that_." Draco mumbled, imitating Harry's voice terribly, still looking away from Harry since if he was looking at him, Harry would've seen the eye roll from Draco and been even more aggravated.

Harry didn't want to start shouting but Draco just didn't know when to stop, "Yes, sorry about that, but you're just as at fault as I am here. You deliberately stole my homework, embarrassing me in front of the whole class–"

"It wasn't my fault you were late." Draco calmly interrupted.

"Just shut up, okay? It _was_ your fault because I had to search everywhere for it, not knowing _you_ had it. Then you boss me around, finding it funny that Snape hates me–"

"I never said I found it funny."

Every time Draco and Harry would have a pointless back and forth argument, Harry would almost feel like pulling his hair out, the frustration overflowing. "You don't bloody need to. I can tell Malfoy, I'm not stupid."

"Debatable from the person who brewed a love potion instead of a peace one."

Harry let out a loud sigh, walking towards Draco, "You are exasperating."

"Yeah, I guess I am." Draco muttered, presumably not for Harry to hear, but he did.

Harry's anger washing away, he started to take account of how closed off Draco looked, his knees tucked into his chest whilst he _still_ hadn't turned to face Harry, his voice seeming much sadder in his last sentence. "Are you okay?" Harry realised the irony of his question. After coming here and basically going off at him, he had taken a full 180, acting like he wanted to comfort Draco.

"It's nothing. I'm completely fine." Draco so-obviously-lied, Harry nearly snorting at how bad it was.

"That's an obvious lie." Harry stood in front of Draco who didn't look up at him. Harry bent down, questioning himself on why he cared so much if Draco was okay or not but he pushed that thought aside.

He was just kind.

Yeah, that sounded like a perfectly explainable reason.

Harry slowly reached his hand out, waiting for a trademark Draco insult, maybe to tell him to go away, but Draco didn't say anything, too distracted by something unknown to Harry. Harry's hand gently held Draco's chin, turning his face to his own, seeing Draco's tear stained cheeks. "Are you... crying?"

Draco immediately pushed Harry's hand away from his face, burying his face in his hands. "No."

Harry didn't know how to react; he wasn't the best at working with emotions, especially emotions from Draco of all people. He sat down next to Draco, looking down at his hands. "You can tell me what's wrong, I won't judge."

Harry didn't truly expect Draco to say anything, it's not like they were suddenly friends, but Draco had been bottling things up for so long, and so well, that none of his Slytherin friends had even noticed, or bothered to ask, yet here was Harry, someone who he could call a nemesis, asking how he was. Maybe that's why he decided to confide in him; what further harm could be done? It's not like Harry hadn't just seen his tears.

"Do you think I'm an evil person?" Draco whispered, barely audible.

Harry's brows raised, wondering what Draco was on about. "Evil? Definitely not. Maybe the adjective annoying would suit you more."

"But I am evil. If I get the–" Draco suddenly stopped, almost like he was going to reveal a big secret.

"You're not evil, Malfoy. At all.”

"I'm a disappointment. I've heard it a million times and I bet I'll hear it another million times. It's like I can never satisfy anyone. Either I'll be hurting my friends or random mudbl- " Draco once again stopped himself from saying the word, glancing at Harry. "-muggles I don't care about or I'll be hurting my parents, not living up to their expectations as a Malfoy or a pure blood."

"You shouldn't just live to satisfy people. You should be who you want to be. Take care of yourself first."

Draco let out a bitter chuckle, shaking his head. "Ironic huh? I'm the most selfish person I know, I don't think I need to 'take care of myself first'. "

"You're not... well, you can be sometimes, but it's because you're always trying to live up to other people's expectations. You don't always need to live by a rule book."

Draco turned to face Harry, "Like you?"

Harry shrugged, giving him a lazy smile. "Yeah, sure, like me sometimes."

"The boy who's almost been killed every year." Harry thought Draco was offended but then a small smile broke out on his face. "Sounds reasonable to me I guess."

Harry relaxed a bit, feeling some of the tension leave the area. "I'm sorry about today again." 

"You made quite a delightful song, actually. How did it go again?"

Harry covered his ears, dreading the reminder. "Please don't remind me."

" _Draco, Draco, Draco my love-_ " Draco mimicked Harry, ignoring the boy's pleas for him to shut up until Harry couldn't bear it anymore, and put his hands over Draco's mouth, muffling his voice. "Stop. Singing." Harry watched Draco's eyes widen slightly before he nodded, indicating for Harry to take his hands away. Harry didn't fully trust him but slowly took his hands away, staying in front of Draco. Neither of them said anything, the silence being deafening as they stared into each other's eyes, wondering who would be the first to make a move. 

It was Harry who finally did it, initiating the kiss. He was still a bit shaky on his kissing skills so Draco took control, putting his arms around Harry's neck to bring him closer. Harry's whole body tingled at the feeling of Draco's body against his; it was like a wave of warmth had come over him, suppressing a groan when Draco softly bit his bottom lip. Harry's fingers had started to slip underneath Draco's top when Draco pushed Harry slightly off of him, a grin almost playing on his so-very-appealing lips, "You sure you're still not on the love potion?" 

Harry wanted to roll his eyes at Draco's timing for his humour but didn't, "I'm sure." He breathed out instead, before eagerly connecting their lips again for another kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so because i'm writing in third person, it seems like harry is calling draco by his first name in his thoughts but he still refers to draco by "malfoy". it's just so i don't have to switch from draco to malfoy ( and vice versa with harry and potter ) depending on whose 'thoughts' it's in.  
> ^if that doesn't make sense just ignore it lmao


	5. girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry attempts to make a move with Ginny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so for this, I combined the chapters ‘Ginny’ and ‘Pansy’ since they were both very short chapters so enjoy this (relatively) short chapter :)

**Third Person POV:**

Draco sat leaning against the wall, looking at the boy who laid his head in his lap.   


After the... well, the kiss, Harry had rambled on about some astrology facts to avoid the silence being awkward, then had announced he was feeling tired and instead of doing the logical thing that any sane person would do by going back to their dorm, he had decided to make Draco's lap his temporary bed.

Draco looked at the way Harry seemed so at peace, feeling this need to protect him from any dangers that would try to come for him, but what if he was the danger he was so worried about? But then he remembered Harry's words: 'You're not evil.' And he had seemed so sincere though he knew nothing of what Draco had done.

Draco had an urge to touch Harry's hair; just once would be enough, so he slowly ran his fingers through Harry's hair, making sure that Harry didn't wake up. What would he say then? 'My hands accidentally slipped and ended up in your hair.' Even someone as dense as Harry wouldn't believe that for a second. Yet these thoughts didn't stop Draco who let his fingers gently slide down Harry's cheeks, stopping at his plump lips. Draco pushed the temptation to just kiss Harry senselessly, give him those unlimited kisses that he had promised, but as soon as that thought ran through his mind, he automatically felt dirty at himself, snatching his hand away from Harry's face too abruptly that Harry's eyes started to flutter open.

Harry stared into those grey eyes he had become familiar with, trying to grasp where he was. "Wha-? Why am I... Where?"

"You're in Hogwarts Potter. Exactly where you were before you fell asleep." Draco's retorts fell out of his mouth smoothly, almost like his thoughts from before had never happened.

"I didn't mean– Whatever." Harry grumbled, before realising the position he was in, and shooting up off of Draco, sitting beside him. "Why was my head on your lap?"

"Can't you remember anything? You were the one who practically begged for it to be there. _Oh Malfoy, my poor head is so uncomfortable on this hard ground, please save me_."

"That never happened." Harry quickly snapped back, cringing at Draco's impression of his voice.

"And how would you know? You couldn't even remember where you were." Draco quizzed, triumphant at the no reply from Harry who knew he was half right. "You should probably go back to your room before your friends notice you've disappeared."

"Oh crap, yes." Harry stood up, realising that Ron had told him he'd be back. "How about you? Won't anyone notice that you're gone?"

"They already know." Draco stated without a care. Harry, however, froze, taking in Draco's words. They knew? Draco was that comfortable to tell them about this? Draco must've seen Harry's expression and spoke again, "Why do you look so shocked?"

"You told them about us?" Harry blurted out, seeing the way Draco's brow raised, most likely at the fact he had said 'us'. "Oh, I didn't mean us in that way, I meant, you know er- I just didn't think..."

Draco didn't respond to Harry, instead he laughed.

Draco Malfoy laughed.

Harry felt a burst of pride at the fact he had made Draco laugh; not Pansy this time. Though he didn't exactly know what was funny, he wanted to take in Draco's laugh, noticing the way his eyes crinkled at the corners as his hands stayed on his stomach.

But then the moment was over as quickly as it had begun, the place becoming near silent again, only the remnant sounds of Draco chuckling. "What was so funny then?" Harry finally asked when Draco had come down from his laughter high.

"You, stupid. I meant that they know I don't normally spend much time in the common room or dorms at night, I usually sneak out. Not about whatever the 'us' you were on about." He still had the smile on his face as he looked at Harry, a slight dreamy look in his eyes.

Harry wasn't used to a happy Draco and turned around, finding his invisibility cloak, "Someone's happy."

Draco stayed silent and as Harry turned back to him, the smile seemed to have vanished, replaced by a calculating look. "Who are these... lessons for?" Draco asked out of the blue.

Harry didn't know if he was fully ready to admit his crush on Ginny, but since Draco had opened up, he also felt obliged to. "Don't laugh, but I want to impress Ginny." Draco didn't know if Harry realised but he had started to smile thinking of Ginny. "I think I really like her."

"Oh... Oh." Of course he did, Draco thought.

"What do you mean by oh?" Harry questioned worriedly.

"Nothing, Potter, it- I mean, I meant nothing." Draco had crawled back into his cold shell, making Harry regret that he didn't savour happy Draco for long enough.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll see you later." Draco ignored the question, walking out and leaving Harry to wonder what he'd done now to earn this sudden mood change.

*******

"Where were you last night? Ron said you’d vanished." Hermione asked as Harry speedily searched for an excuse that Hermione wouldn't be able to sense was a lie.

"I went back to Madam Pomfrey, but I'm feeling fine now." Harry could see in Hermione's face that she was hesitating to bring up what had happened yesterday so Harry quickly changed the subject. "Where's Ron then?" Another hangry Ron was not what either of them needed, or wanted, this morning.

Hermione didn't answer straight away, sensing that Harry was uncomfortable.

"He'll be here later, so now he's gone, we can talk about you and Ginny." Hermione smiled, her whole expression brightening.

Harry hid his face in his hands, shaking his head. "Please no."

Hermione pulled his arms down so his blushing face was back on display. "Have you talked to her yet?"

"No, but I will."

Hermione didn't believe his words for a second, he needed a right push."You will when?"

"Later."

"No, how about now? She's just walked in, call her over."

True to Hermione's word, Ginny walked in with Luna, the two of them looking to be in a deep conversation. Harry caught Ginny's eye and waved her over, separating her from Luna who went and sat with Neville whilst Ginny came to sit next to Harry.

"Oh, I just remembered that I need to finish off my... charms homework." Hermione announced before either of them could speak.

Harry knew this to be an obvious lie; Hermione finished all her homework's on the day. Hermione gave Harry one last knowing look before getting up and leaving the hall.

It went silent until Harry realised he was meant to be initiating the conversation. "So, how's fourth year going for you then? I heard you've got Umbridge for Defence against the Dark Arts too."

Ginny immediately perked up, all her stories flashing to mind straight away. "Unfortunately yes, you'll never believe what she said to this girl in my year..." She started to explain, using gestures to get her story across even more.

Harry was listening intently to Ginny when he felt a stare on him, looking across the hall to see it was none other than Draco. With their 'budding' friendship, Harry had expected a bit more support from Draco at the fact he was talking to his crush, but instead, he got a glare.

Wait.

Draco wasn't glaring at him; he was glaring at Ginny.

Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes, just in case Ginny thought he was rolling them at her.

"–but then she said we have an exam to test how much we've learnt so I'm a bit worried for that."

"Don't stress, I'm sure you'll do really well, you're already so smart." Harry complimented, liking the way her cheeks went rosy.

She really was gorgeous.

"Thanks Harry, I guess I'm gonna have to spend the rest of today cramming for it." Ginny sighed, glancing to the side. "I don't know if I'm going crazy, but is Malfoy glaring at me?"

Harry looked back at Draco again to see him still frowning. "It's probably nothing. Malfoy being typical Malfoy I guess." Harry still glanced at Draco again though, seeing Draco signal to him to meet him outside, pointing to the doors before getting up and walking out.

Harry was stuck: stay here with Ginny or go out there with Draco?

His mind was telling him to stay sitting down but his mouth was already halfway through an excuse, standing up. "–but maybe we can practise some Quidditch together on Saturday if you're doing nothing?"

"Of course." Ginny smiled. "I'd love that."

Harry smiled back at her, nodding, then left the hall to go and find Draco, wondering what game he was playing at.

Meanwhile, Draco stood leaning against the wall.

He felt like he was seething with green, and he hated it.

Why should he, Draco Malfoy, be jealous of some ginger that was sitting with Harry? It's not like Harry and him were even close friends, though he was sure friends didn't get jealous over friends making new ones.

A few first years nearly bumped into Draco, giggling, but when Draco took out his anger on them, telling them that if they ever walked into him again, he would cast a stinging jinx on them, they instantly ran away from him, one of them looking on the verge of tears.

"Malfoy." Harry greeted, and Draco despised the way his heart did a double take realising Harry was there. "Why were you glaring at Ginny?"

And back to the stupid Weaslette. "I wouldn't waste a breath or a stare on that girl."

"You shouldn't be rude. Ginny's a really nice girl." Harry defended.

Would Harry stick up for Draco in the same way he did for Ginny? Definitely not, Draco dismissed the silly thought.

"Whatever." Draco muttered.

"What is it you wanted then?"

Draco noticed Harry's restlessness, glancing towards the Great Hall before looking back at Draco, fidgeting with his hands. "Merlin Potter, how much sugar have you had today?" Draco stalled.

He had no idea what he wanted, but one thing he knew that he _didn't_ want was to see Ginny and Harry together. There was no exact valid reason for why he didn't like the Weasley girl, but he was Draco, he didn't need a reason.

"Not a lot, I don't think." Harry actually seemed to be calculating it in his mind. "But that's not the point, why did you want to speak to me?"

Seconds passed as Draco tried to think of something up on the spot. "Have you done the potions assignment?"

Dumb.

Dumb.

Dumb.

Even Harry could sense that wasn't the main reason why Draco had asked him to come. "Is that it?"

Draco nodded curtly.

"No, I haven't yet, but isn't it due Monday?"

It seemed that there seemed to be a bit of luck on Draco's side; Harry had gotten the due date wrong.

"No, Potter, it's due tomorrow."

Harry's face dropped, muttering something to himself. "Oh... I guess I can do it tonight."

"Don't you have quidditch practise tonight?" The words slipped out before Draco could stop himself. He realised he had just half exposed the fact that he had noted every house's practise time in his head.

Solely so he wouldn't bump into them. (Definitely not for peeking at their game plans.)

Nevertheless, Harry didn't appear to deep what Draco had said and instead smiled, seeming gratified at Draco knowing his timetable. "Oh yeah, forgot about that. I guess I'll do it after practise, but thanks for reminding me."

Draco simply nodded again, Harry taking it as a cue that the conversation had ended. He started heading back towards the hall before he stopped and turned back around. "Will you be there tonight?" His head tilted a bit to the side, waiting for Draco's answer.

Draco had to press his lips together to stop the laugh that threatened to come out; Harry looked cute.

Harry, taking this as a sign of rejection, looked down at the ground. "Sorry, I don't even know why I–"

Draco, however, cut off Harry's worries, interrupting him. "Yes Potter, I'll be there."

With that, Harry looked back up, a cheesy grin growing on his face and staying there as he walked back into the hall.

Draco stayed out of the hall, replaying the way Harry's smile had somehow managed to brighten up his whole day.

"Mr Malfoy. Just the person I needed." On hearing that voice, Draco stood up straight, looking to see Snape who had managed to erase the warmth Draco had been feeling. Snape didn't wait for a response from Draco and continued to talk. "You are an acquaintance of Potter, I've heard–"

Draco felt the need to ask what he had heard but remembered that with all the nonsense Harry had been speaking that time he was on the love potion, it was no surprise Snape had come up with his own conclusions. 

"–and due to Potter's ineptitude, or rather indolence, in my Potion's class, it has come to my attention by the Headmaster that he requires a tutor, which is where you, Mr Malfoy, are needed."

Draco was quiet for a few seconds, taking in what Snape had said, before questioning him. "How about Grang- Hermione?" That would surely be an easier option for both Harry and himself.

"Miss Granger has enough responsibilities." Snape's answer was firm. "Potter's grades must improve before the next Potion's exam. Repeat everything I said to him as soon as you can." Snape walked away, once again giving no time for Draco to respond, or protest, even though he wouldn't have been able to either way.

He would tell Harry tonight then.

Draco headed to his common room, knowing he had a free coming up, expecting to have peace and quiet there.

But Pansy seemed to show up every time he didn't want her to. "Did you just bump into Snape?" She immediately inquired, poking her nose into where it didn't need to be.

"Yes, he had to talk to me about something." Draco sat on the couch, moving away from her, but she simply perched right next to him.

"About what?"

"How does that concern you Pansy?" Draco accidentally snapped, the words sounding much lighter in his head. Pansy flinched, causing Draco to sigh. "I didn't mean it in that way. I just... I haven't been getting the most sleep lately which explains my crappy mood. He just asked me to tutor Potter."

Pansy recovered quickly, acting like she hadn't just been hurt by his words. "Potter... and you agreed to tutor him?" She eyed him as if he had a whole say on the matter.

"I couldn't exactly say no to Snape."

"Does he know?"

Draco shook his head; not yet anyways.

"That sounds like the bloody worst. See, that's one advantage of not being a nerd in classes, least I don't have to tutor Gryffindorks. Gross." She scrunched up her face in disgust, Draco rolling his eyes at her immature insult of the Gryffindors.

"Yeah." Draco agreed half heartedly, too lazy to have an argument about different houses.

It went silent after that, Draco openly welcoming it. Pansy's concentrated gaze was fixed on the ground, like she was attempting to do a wandless spell. But Draco knew what that meant when it came to her; she wanted a favour.

In 3...

2...

1...

"Can I copy your charms work?"

And there it was.


	6. bets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco finds comfort in the brown haired boy's presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy :)

**Third person POV:**

Although Draco had agreed to meet Harry, he sat in his own dorm by himself.

He was grateful that he had his own to himself, thanks to his father requesting a separate room, but it could get lonely sometimes, which would explain why he would prefer to be alone in the astronomy tower then in his own room.

A note was in his hands as he reread it over many times, having come from his father. It read:

_Draco,_   
_I trust you're doing well in your studies. Your mother hopes you're okay._

Of course only his mother cared if he was okay.

_Regarding school, do not get too close to anyone, unless they are pure bloods with respectable surnames, you know what you have been taught. I expect you to be on alert at all times; there is a reason I have allowed you to be back at Hogwarts for the fifth year._

_Do not mess up,_   
_L.M._

The parchment though flowing in magic, lacked any sort of affection. Draco had tried to read between the lines and find any sign that his father cared, but there was none. Not even the signing of his initials at the end helped.

Draco thought of the boy who would be sitting there-waiting, but he didn't have the courage to go all the way up there today. In some way, he felt like by leaving his room, he was disobeying his father and he knew his father would rather be in Azkaban then learn of the growing emotions Draco had started to feel for Harry.

As if thinking of his name summoned the movement, Draco peered up to see his door opening, but there was nobody there, except for those well known clunky footsteps.

Draco quickly stood up, tucking the note in his pocket, unsure if _he_ had seen it. "Potter!"

Draco didn't even know where to start with his long list of questions: How had he gotten into the Slytherin dungeons? How did he know Draco would be here? How did he know which room was Draco's? _Why_ was he here? There were so many more, but they all left when Harry took off the invisibility cloak, revealing his chaotic self.

His cheeks were flushed, his hair as messy as usual... What Draco would do to run his hands throu-

No.

Bad Draco.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know if something happened to you or..." Harry's sentence trailed off as he still carried on looking at the ground. "And I had the Maurader's map so I knew... I'm sorry, I'm so stupid."

"It's fine." It wasn't.

But Draco wanted Harry to look up, he wanted to see those blazing green eyes.

"I should go." Harry turned to leave, but without even thinking, Draco stopped him, placing his hand on Harry's shoulder. He quickly moved his hand away from Harry's shoulder to his chin, forcing Harry to look into his eyes.

"Stay." Draco breathed out after a few seconds; the intense connection between their eyes being too much, causing Draco to step away again. Harry almost seemed disappointed, but Draco brushed it off as his hopeful imagination.

Draco remembered the note from his father and his mood automatically darkened, Harry spotting it right away. Draco picked up his wand and pointed it towards the door, muttering a small _Colloportus_ that automatically locked the door. (Just in case.)

"Are you okay?" Harry seemed to be asking that question a lot to him these days.

"I'm fine." Merlin, he needed to update his vocabulary bank. Draco could see Harry studying the room, staring at Draco's bed that was neat, almost like nobody ever actually used it. "I didn't mean to stand you up."

Harry looked back at Draco, feeling impolite having snooped through Draco's private space with just his eyes. "It's... _fine_." Harry teased.

It took Draco a few seconds but when he got it, he felt the corners of his lips slightly extend upwards. "Very funny Potter."

Harry took Draco being comfortable enough to smile with him as an invitation to sit on Draco's bed, complimenting his bouncy it was.

Draco silently agreed then suddenly remembered what Snape's message to him had been. "I have to tutor you. Snape says your grades aren't sufficient enough for the O.W.L. Exams."

"Really? You'll tutor me?" Harry's tone turned buoyant– Draco hearing the smile without even looking at him. 

"I didn't have a choice." Draco repeated for the second time that day.

Harry lay back on the bed, sighing. "Oh."

It went quiet again.

Draco would normally hate the idea of anyone on _his_ bed, but he didn't seem to care as much with Harry, and simply sat down, leaning against the chair opposite his bed.

"I asked Ginny out on a date today." Harry finally spoke, though Draco would've preferred the silence over learning about Harry's dating life. "Well, I wouldn't entirely call it a date, but we're gonna hang out. Just the two of us."

Harry couldn't see Draco's reaction but maybe it was better that way; Draco frowned and grunted out a small "Okay."

"Isn't that great?" It was like Harry was seeking for approval from Draco that he'd never get.

"Why would that have anything to do with me?"

"I just thought you'd be happy to know."

"I'm not." Draco's answer came automatically, unable to stop the truth falling out.

Harry leaned up on his elbows, peering at him in suspicion. "Malfoy, are you... _jealous_?"

Draco was rendered speechless for a second before he composed himself quickly, putting on the best sneer he could. "You must be delirious to think I could be jealous of anything to do with you."

Harry didn't react at first, instead, he simply lay back on the bed, making sure Draco wouldn't be able to see in his eyes how stupid he felt at his outburst of confidence.

Harry didn't say anything more; he didn't want to mess up or feel that same silly feeling he had before. For some reason, embarrassing himself in front of Draco always seemed to leave the worst feeling yet it was such a common occurrence.

Neither boy knew how long the tranquillity lasted for, but it was weird for Draco. He'd never known Harry to not want to pop in a word or two at random times. "Potter, are you still awake?" He knew Harry was, but if this question would trigger Harry's voice, he was up for asking it.

"Yeah." Was all Harry responded, far-away in his thoughts.

Draco felt disappointed at the emptiness in Harry's voice and tried again. "What are you thinking about?"

Harry responded immediately, as if he'd expected for Draco to carry on the conversation. "You–"

Draco froze, taking in a deep breath.

"–Ginny, Ron..." But then Harry carried on, and Draco realised he really wasn't that significant in Harry's messy thoughts. "About Potions, muggles..."

"Muggles?" Apart from Harry thinking about him, thinking of muggles was even more unexpected.

"Yeah, what life would be like if I was one."

Draco's lip curled in disgust, shaking his head. "Why would you ever waste your time thinking about what it would be like to be a powerless creature like them?"

"I don't know, I was just thinking. Less stress maybe."

Draco could sense Harry shutting off from the conversation again and knew he needed to keep it going, so changed the subject. "How was quidditch practise?"

This brought Harry back to life. "Why? You wanna steal our game plan?" Harry teased, unable to see Draco jokingly rolling his eyes. "It was alright, I guess, Ron's thinking of trying out which is great." Harry smiled.

"We're against Slytherins next, but who likes them anyways?" Harry scrunched up his face thinking of them.

Draco, however, was immediately defensive of his house, speaking up. "Imagine being a Gryffindor; that's even worse. Slytherins are superior. End of."

"We'll see Malfoy. Whichever house wins is the better house." Harry proposed to which Draco nodded his head. "Okay, fine."

"Fine." Harry repeated back.

Draco decided to echo him too, finalising the conversation. " _Fine_."

Both boys had small grins on their faces that neither could see.

They were excited.

The conversation had come to a comfortable end, and Draco actually felt satisfied that he had managed to get on Harry's good side again.

He just didn't realise _how_ comfortable Harry had gotten until he heard steady breathing coming from the bed. "Potter?"

Silence.

"Potter!"

Yet there was still no reply.

Draco stood up to see Harry sleeping in _his_ bed, curled up like he was a little baby.

"Bloody hell Potter." Draco muttered, going to the side where he was and trying to shake him awake.

It was like Harry had taken a sleeping draught, simply rolling into the middle of the bed when Draco shook him. Draco decided he was being too gentle and lightly slapped Harry's cheek, receiving a better reaction.

Harry's eyes slowly opened as Draco didn't know if he was mumbling to himself, or Draco. "Malfoy... stop– sleep, with me. Sleep." Draco's mouth slightly gaped at Harry's words, secretly smirking inside.

Harry wouldn't be able to live this one down, he decided. "No, wake up now."

"Shut up, just sleep." Harry slurred, still in his dream state.

"Fuck." Draco sat on his bed, next to Harry, but didn't dare slip under the covers.

He didn't trust himself.

Draco pulled out the note from his pocket again, thinking about how his father would react to know that a boy, not just any boy, but Harry Potter, was sleeping in his bed.

And Draco was allowing it.

Draco scrunched the note back into his pocket, sighing and looking at the boy beside him. This was the second time he had been there to see Harry sleeping and it seemed like this was becoming a pattern that Draco surprisingly didn't mind.

He tried to stay awake, but with nobody to talk to, and matching the slow breathing pace of Harry, it was impossible for him to not allow his eyes to close, which, if he had been more focussed, he would've questioned himself at how easily he had found it to fall asleep, compared to the other days where he would be up all night.

*******

Harry's dream was absolutely lush.

He was cuddling with someone, (maybe Ginny, but they had no boobs?), inhaling in a sweet cinnamon smell as the person pressed back into him. The slight friction against him quickly sent a wave of pleasure down to his groin as he moved a bit, slowly grinding into the person's- _behind_ -, almost coming undone when the person let out a groan.

It felt so real.

He breathed into the person's neck, kissing it softly until he heard the person speak. " _Harry_..."

Fuck.

That woke him up.

Harry's eyes opened immediately to find his arms wrapped around the person- who he now knew to be Malfoy- and started to panic. If it weren't for the _small_ fact of him basically molesting Malfoy...

For the second time,

He would've been able to really think about how Malfoy had called him Harry; did he want Harry then?

Malfoy didn't seem to move any more, so Harry, thankfully, presumed that he was still sleeping, despite the moan of Harry's name, and tried to unwrap his arms from Malfoy.

Malfoy, however, grabbed onto Harry's arms, whispering a soft "Stay" that Harry wanted to listen to, but he just didn't think Malfoy would be that glad to wake up in the morning and find the two of them together spooning. So Harry stayed still for a few minutes, making sure to keep a distance between his dick and Malfoy's ass, even though it was difficult with Malfoy being such a horny sleeping person, moving back into Harry, but eventually, Harry was able to slowly take his arms away from Malfoy and carefully slid out of the bed, searching for his invisibility cloak.

When he did find it, he hesitated whether he should leave something, but decided against it, and simply walked out, looking at Malfoy one last time before leaving.


	7. quidditch

**Third Person POV:**

Harry paced back and forth in the library as Hermione watched on, occasionally looking down at her work then glancing back up to still see a restless Harry moving around.

"Harry, are you that worried for the match?" Hermione finally asked, shocking Harry who had completely forgotten she was there, flinching a bit.

"Oh well— No, I just... Er, you could say." Harry stammered, trying to find the right excuse. "Yeah, I just want to make sure we win, you know?" Harry half lied.

The real reason was that he was nervous.

Nervous to see Draco again. Since the, _incident_ , yesterday, he had avoided Draco at all costs, ignoring Draco's curious stares he had felt in the Great Hall.

It was just that every time he looked up at Draco, the memories of last night (or morning) would rush down to his groin, leaving him in a very uncomfortable position.

When Harry did zone back into reality, Hermione was giving him a sympathetic smile, like she knew what he was thinking... which she definitely didn't.

She stood up, placing her hands on Harry's shoulders to keep him in place. "I'm certain that you and the team are going to play as well as you guys always do. The Golden Snitch was practically made for you. Malfoy's got nothing on you, alright? Just focus and take deep breaths." 

Harry instantly felt more relaxed, grinning back at Hermione, another reminder of why he was best friends with her.

"Thank you." He genuinely thanked her as she nodded, smiling and sitting back down to carry on studying.

Harry, however, was too skittish to just sit down and study so decided he would take his leave. "I'm gonna go outside, see if I can find Ron as well whilst I'm outside."

Hermione had tried her best to convince Ron to join them in the library, and she almost had, until two minutes in, Ron had claimed that the vibes were off, leaving Hermione and Harry by themselves.

Hermione nodded in response and waved goodbye.

Leaving the stuffy library, Harry let out a deep breath that he had been holding back until he came face to face with Pansy Parkinson.

Fresh air would have to come later, he supposed.

"If it isn't the star seeker, _Harry Potter_."

"And hello to you too, Parkinson." Harry mustered up the fakest smile he could, seeing the way she visibly cringed.

"I've seen that you and Draco are becoming quite friendly. Is there something more going on there?" Pansy didn't let Harry have time to disagree and contributed on with her insinuation. "Is the chosen one in love with Draco?" Her tone was drunk with sarcasm, her scowl attacking Harry.

The smile dropped from Harry's face; was he really that obvious? "He's just going to tutor me, that's it." But when Harry saw the dissatisfaction on Pansy's face, he realised that she had just been trying to get a reaction out of him, allowing him to relax a bit again. Pansy opened her mouth to speak again but Harry had had enough, and swooped in. "Nice seeing you Parkinson. Tell your boyfriend I said hi." Harry let a bit of his jealousy drop out, walking the other way and leaving a fuming Pansy standing in her spot.

Harry checked behind him, just in case Pansy had decided to follow him outside until he once again bumped into another person.

"Watch where you're—"

That voice could be recognised from miles away, causing Harry to stiffen up again. 

"Oh, it's you Potter." Draco was relieved. Harry had been avoiding him the whole day, and after letting him into his dorm _and_ letting Harry sleep in his bed, Draco didn't expect such treatment in return.

Harry didn't look up, nodding his head. "Yeah, see you later." And before Draco could protest, Harry had ran outside, joining Ron and Neville.

Draco was completely puzzled.

All that had been left when he woke up was a raging boner that he had– no surprise there after his vivid dream– and the sheets next to him ruffled, indicating that someone had slept there, and it wasn't just Draco's lonely imagination.

"Just saw your boyfriend." Pansy came up from behind Draco, wiping away his theories on why Harry had seemed so distant.

Draco turned around, so not in the mood for her riddles. "My boyfriend?"

"Potter, you idiot." She flicked his forehead with her finger, rebounding Draco's head back slightly. "It wasn't that hard to guess. Merlin, no need to make your brain explode."

Pansy didn't stop there though. "And you call yourself smart." She muttered, but deliberately loud enough for Draco to hear.

"He's not my boyfriend." _Yet_. "Idiot."

"Whatever you say Malfoy." With that, she dramatically strutted away, a small hope in her that Draco would follow after her, but he never did.

He didn't care about her as much as she wished.

Draco simply watched her leave before continuing on his route to the library. As soon as he entered, Hermione's face come to view, her unkempt hair exploding into all of the books she had open.

Typical mudbl- Granger, Draco thought to himself, scolding himself at the word he nearly called her.

Hermione glanced up, sending someone's gaze on her and catching Draco's eyes. She gave him a death glare, hoping that would translate as _Don't come anywhere near me, you disobedient ferret_.

But unfortunately, there was a reason why she had called him disobedient, watching him walk over.

"Hello, little miss perfect." Though Draco had improved on stopping his name calling, he couldn't resist doing a bit of mockery; Hermione's reactions were almost as good as Harry's.

But almost would never be fully.

Hermione glowered at the nickname but kept her voice as calm as she could, "I'm not interested in talking to you right now Malfoy. Don't you have anywhere else to be?"

"Let me think." He over exaggerated the movement, tapping his forehead with his fingers then shook his head. "No, actually, thank you for asking– But wait, what about Potter? How could I forget about him?" Draco smirked, seeing the worry in her face at the mention of Harry.

Of course he wasn't going to bother Harry, but it was fun to watch Hermione be riled up.

"You better leave Harry alone. He doesn't need this extra stre–" She stopped mid sentence, realising who she was talking to. "Just forget it."

Harry was stressed... but why?

He had appeared fine last night, except when Draco had shut down his excitement, but apart from that, they had joked about quidditch.

It surely couldn't be solely because of that.

Draco walked out of the library, ignoring the confused look on Hermione's face.

After the game, he would try and confront Harry, find out why he was ignoring him and why he was stressed, Draco decided as he walked back to his common room, filled with thoughts of Harry.

*******

"Gryffindor's 10 points behind, but if their star seeker Harry Potter is able to retrieve the Golden Snitch, it'll be a sure win, unless the Gryffindor seeker stays distracted as he has this whole game... but that doesn't matter, Harry Potter could beat Slytherin in his sleep." Harry heard Lee's voice bellowing around the stadium but instead of comforting him, it put more pressure on him as he tried to block out the noise.

His hands started to become clammy as he gripped onto his broom tighter, scouring his surroundings to see if there were any traces of the golden snitch. He could see Draco near him, sporting a sour look, most likely from the vexatious commentary that had been going on for the whole game.

Harry made to turn around -look in a different place- when he saw the shimmering of gold near the Gryffindor's goalposts and immediately positioned his broom down, leaning forward and tearing after it. Draco quickly caught on, also aligning himself in a way that he could go quicker.

"The Snitch has been spotted! Look at the seekers go! Draco Malfoy's catching up but... HE'S DONE IT! HARRY POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE GOLDEN SNITCH ONCE AGAIN!"

The feeling of relief washed over Harry's body, holding the snitch in his hands. It was like a huge weight had been swept off of his shoulders and when he turned to look at the blond boy, it seemed as if he was suddenly fixated at the sight of his broom.

As usual, as soon as he was back on the ground, Harry was ambushed by his friends, hearing congratulations.

"I knew you could do it!" Hermione exclaimed, at first going in to give him a hug before scrunching her nose up, deciding against it and giving him a slightly-awkward high five.

Ron nodded in agreement. "You were awesome, mate. You should've seen the way Malfoy was glaring at you." He paused, thinking back to the game before shaking his head. "Actually, scrap that, he looked like he was in love with your broom or something." He shuddered.

Harry didn't understand what Ron was saying so just thanked Ron and Hermione both before starting to head towards the changing rooms until he saw Ginny, a smile lighting up on his face. "Hey Ginny."

"You were so great out there, well done!" She complimented, giving him a hug. Harry was sure he was sweaty, but Ginny didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she just didn't mind.

Harry opened his mouth, ready to thank her, or even start some small talk, when he felt someone crash into him from behind, catching him off guard so much that he stupidly lost his balance and fell onto the ground, hearing a click as his knee took the brunt of the fall.

"Merlin Harry, are you okay?" She extended out a hand that he gladly took, standing up and nodding back at her, leaning on one leg slightly. "I can take you to Madam Pomfr–" She had started to offer when Draco came from behind Harry, grabbing his arm.

"I'll take him, I'm already headed that way." Draco, with no warning, proclaimed, a look of confusion on both Harry and Ginny's face.

"But-"

"I think I saw Madam Hooch looking for you, _Weasley_." Draco lied. Couldn't she just take the hint and leave?

"Really? But I-"

But Draco had already dragged Harry away with him, a scowl on his face. "Don't ask any questions." Draco immediately ordered, sensing the long list of questions that Harry would have. 

Draco looked to be in a foul mood, and Harry didn't really understand why... well, he knew it could be something to do with him ignoring Draco, but that couldn't be the only reason.

"Someone's got their knickers in a twist." Harry joked to himself as he limped next to Draco, every step he took sending painful jolts up his knee.

Draco stopped, facing Harry with a brow raised. " _Knickers_? What's twisting?"

"It's a muggle saying." Harry explained proudly at knowing something Draco didn't. "Heard it from one of the second year's so I asked them what it meant."

Draco rolled his eyes, carrying on walking. "No surprise there that you're friends with second year muggles."

Harry was about to explain that he wasn't, but just decided to keep quiet since it wasn't that serious of a misunderstanding. "Are you mad at me?" Harry bravely asked. After the quidditch game, _most_ thoughts of last night had been stored away in a box that would never be opened again-

Except at night, when he's alone.

"No."

Yes, he was then.

Harry nodded, but didn't say any more.

Draco sped up his walking pace, causing Harry to fall behind with his knee that was killing him. "Malfoy slow down, you're walking too fast." Harry grumbled.

"I'm not walking too fast, you're walking too sl-" Draco turned around, stopping when he saw Harry limping. "Wow, Potter, you really are a liability."

Harry shrugged, grinning as Draco put his arm around Harry's waist to support him whilst Harry put his hand on Draco's shoulder. Harry could hear Draco's breathing quicken, reminding Harry of how much this close proximity was like last night. He just hoped he didn't smell too bad after the match.

Harry pressed into Draco... grinding into him... Draco's moa-

He had to stop, or all he would get at the end of this was a boner, so he instead brought up some more innocent topics. "I could really do with a shower right now... and maybe some treacle tart. Actually, definitely some treacle tart." And when he got no response from Draco, he carried on speaking. "Do you think my team's wondering where I've gone? I didn't tell Hermione or Ron but I'm sure– OH, Ginny! Did you see when she hugged me?"

That was the last straw for Draco who had heard enough. "Potter, do you ever get tired of listening to your own voice?"

"Don't be rude." Harry frowned, but accepted Draco's jab at him to shut up and kept quiet until they got to Madam Pomfrey.

"What happened here?" Madam Pomfrey asked as soon as they walked into the infirmary. "These Qudditch games seem to be getting more and more dangerous each year." She mumbled to herself.

"Malfoy shov-"

"We ran into each other." Draco quickly intervened, knowing where Harry's sentence was going.

Madam Pomfrey eyed the two of them as they stood there sheepishly, like two kids who had just been caught stealing candy. "Okay then... Let's get you both checked then."

Draco shook his head, "Oh no, I'm not injured, I just had to assist Potter here." He explained, stepping back.

"If you both ran into each other as you said, I'll check the two of you." She sternly spoke, Draco going quiet and nodding meekly.

She turned her attention back to Harry, looking down at his slightly out of place knee, and gave her wand a few flicks, saying something along the lines of _Episkey_ , causing Harry to hear a popping noise. He let out a little grunt, not fully prepared for the invisible force that had hit his knee.

"That knee needs to be rested so I suggest you go back to your room. Don't overexert it, or yourself. You shouldn't be in any pain, but I do have some pain-relieving potions if you need them."

Harry nodded. His knee felt normal again.

"And as for you Malfoy." She turned to him, pointing her wand at him to do a spell and check for injuries. "You seem to have come out unscathed."

"Great." But there was no enthusiasm in his voice as Madam Pomfrey went to attend to some first years who had gotten into a muggle fight.

Draco was out before you could even say the word 'go', as Harry did a slight jog to catch up with him. "Where you running off to?"

"Away."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Because I said so."

"Oh." Harry stopped talking and moved closer to Draco, their shoulders touching, then continued a second later. "I wonder how Ginny did in her test." Harry accidentally thought out loud, but Draco heard it loud and clear. Before Harry could say anything more, Draco had pushed him harshly against the wall, his eyes flaming with anger. "Someone ought to watch what comes out of that pretty mouth of yours." 

Harry gulped, looking at Draco's eyes which were glued to his lips, but Draco pulled away, striding off quickly.

Harry, though, was rendered still in his spot as Draco's words repeated in his head.

_Pretty mouth_.

All Harry could think about was that... and the knowledge that he had somehow been turned on by it.

Merlin, he would definitely need a cold shower now. 


	8. hermione

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy :) ty for the kudos'

**Third Person POV:**

A few weeks later, Draco and Harry's tutoring sessions had been going strong, despite the awkwardness they had to overcome every time they met, both of their minds going back to after that quidditch match.

It had simply been brushed past, unfortunately for Harry, and nothing more was said about it. Though Draco had continued to give Harry kissing tips, he had left the practical side of it out, reducing the teaching to _only_ talking. Harry had to force himself to not mention what had happened, but any time he managed to slip it into the conversation, Draco would shut off, shaking his head or telling Harry to forget about it; making up an excuse that Harry had heard Draco's words differently from the 'side effects' of the healing spell which they both knew to be false.

And how could Harry forget about it when it was all he could think about whenever Draco was near?

"Are you even listening to me?" Draco asked as they sat in his room, currently trying to go over the Wit sharpening potion.

No. "Yes."

"Okay, then what goes next?"

"The, you know– Er... the beetles?" Harry guessed hopelessly, knowing he'd failed horribly when Draco lightly smacked his own forehead. "I am listening, I swear I was just... thinking."

"And what could you possibly be thinking about that is more important than your studies?"

Loads of things: you included, Harry thought shamelessly, praying Draco hadn't suddenly become a legillimens.

With no reply, Draco smirked. "That's what I thought."

"Yeah, yeah." Harry mumbled, rewriting the method. He could feel Draco's stare on him as he wrote, slightly putting him off, feeling a bit self conscious. "Stop staring at me."

Draco swiftly looked down at the textbook in front of him, heat running through his cheeks at being caught. He cleared his throat and adjusted the collar of his shirt.

"I've finished it." Harry announced after a few seconds, passing the parchment to Draco. He checked over it, searching for any mistakes, but there were none.

"I did it right, didn't I? I can tell by your face." Harry grinned lazily, pulling at Draco's heart strings.

He, however, tried to keep his face as void of emotion as he could. "And how can you tell by my face?"

"You look disappointed."

"Ah, well yes, you did it right."

Harry's smile turned goofy as he waited for a congratulations from Draco but nothing came. "Aren't you gonna praise my amazing potion skills?"

"Praise? As in..." Draco trailed off, looking at Harry to carry on.

"You know, like a celebratory thing... like a high five."

Draco snorted, shaking his head slightly. "A high five?" Harry nodded back. "You can't be serious? You got a question right, not an outstanding in your exam."

"So what?" Harry shrugged, the smile leaving his face.

"Don't go all stroppy on me."

"I'm not." Harry sulked.

Draco paused, rolling his eyes. "Fine then, I can give you a high five."

Draco could see Harry's mood lighten up as he held his hand out to Harry who leaned forward a bit, but at the last second, Harry changed his mind and instead went in for a hug.

Something he had wanted to do for a while... and now he finally had a 'decent' enough excuse.

Draco froze, feeling Harry's arms wrap around him; he felt how Harry had felt when he had ambushed him with the kiss from weeks ago. Harry pulled away quickly though, looking into Draco's eyes.

Perhaps it had been building up for weeks now, or the hug had triggered it, but Draco didn't want to resist this _thing_ they had between them anymore, and pulled Harry's head to his, smashing their lips together.

Harry had been hanging on to every tip Draco had given, tugging lightly on Draco's bottom lip, hearing a small groan as they shoved their work out of the way. Harry pushed Draco down to the ground, removing his lips from Draco's and placing them on his neck, kissing him slowly. "Wait, you know how to give hickeys?" Draco questioned between pants, feeling Harry's mouth sending tingles everywhere in his body.

Draco regretted asking the question when Harry took his lips away, instantly feeling the air rush onto his neck. "Yeah, practised a bit." Harry answered sheepishly but Draco raised a brow; was it that Ginger girl he had practised on? Harry caught Draco's look and brought up his arm. "Practise."

"Oh." Draco replied coolly, but on the inside he was insanely glad that only _he_ got to enjoy the experience of Harry's lips. Without even hesitating, he wrapped his arms around Harry's neck and joined their lips to each other's again. Harry's hands slid up Draco's untucked shirt as Draco ran his hands messily through Harry's hair. It was like mini explosions were being set off in every place Harry touched and Harry's lips on his were the sweetest he'd ever kissed. 

Harry started to slowly move his lower half against Draco's, which reminded Draco of a night that he couldn't explicitly remember, but when Harry began to take Draco's shirt off, he no longer wanted, or cared, to remember what had happened that night. Harry pulled away, trailing his fingers down Draco's chest, sending shivers through his spine.

So induced in their lust state, they didn't realise someone had been knocking on the door until the person shouted from behind it. "Draco Lucius Malfoy! Am I really gonna have to get my wand out to open this door?"

Draco and Harry immediately separated from each other like their bodies had been on fire, needing to get away from each other as quick as they could. Draco rapidly flung on his shirt whilst Harry adjusted his glasses, (and his trousers), wild thoughts running through both of their minds.

"No, Pansy, wait out there, I'll be out in a second." Draco tried his best to keep his voice calm but he doubted Pansy would ever be able to suspect something like this. He could imagine the conversation:

"Why didn't you answer my knocks?" Pansy would look annoyed, assessing Draco's messy look.

"Oh, I was just snogging that one enemy of mine, and partly yours, you know him, Harry Potter? Yeah, he's the one... oh, and I am currently hard, also due to him."

That was a situation he wasn't going to put himself in. "Actually, I'll meet you in the library, I just remembered I need to do something important here."

Pansy let out a loud sigh for Draco to hear but he heard her footsteps fade away, indicating she'd listened. Draco turned back to Harry, his heart doing a leap seeing how cute Harry's tousled hair looked, but before Harry could speak, or reject him, Draco put in his own words first. "That was just practise, right?"

Harry's mouth opened slightly before shutting it again as he glanced down at the ground, nodding. "Yeah, practise."

"Okay, great, yeah." Draco's voice wavered slightly, staring at Harry who was biting his lip, almost making Draco want to kis-

Realising what he was thinking, Draco turned away, cursing at himself.

"I'll go then." 

Draco didn't turn to reply to Harry, unsure if he could trust himself to make eye contact with him. "See you..." Harry's words faded off as he used his wand to open the door, leaving the room. 

*******

"Why is Malfoy looking at you?" Hermione asked out of the blue, snapping Harry out of his daydream that he had been having. He glanced over to the Slytherin table, meeting Draco's eyes for a second before Draco quickly averted his eyes back to the table.

Harry remembered Hermione was still waiting for an answer, so took his eyes away from the Slytherin table and bluntly answered, "No idea." Completely aware of why Draco was staring.

"Maybe he's thinking of ways to hex you?" Ron gave his input, but it sounded more like "Mwaybe ees tinking of weys to ex yu?" due to the food in his mouth.

Hermione cringed, scorning at him. "Don't speak with food in your mouth."

"You sound like my mum." Ron complained, but at least this time he had swallowed the food in his mouth so Hermione didn't tell him off again.

"And it didn't look like a glare." She continued, eyeing Harry as if trying to scare him into spilling what was happening. "Are you two friends now? Because of your tutoring sessions? Malfoy barely spares a glare for you anymore."

"Am I being interrogated?" Harry joked to avoid the question. Ron snorted but Hermione frowned, staying silent. 

"Nothing's happening, he's probably just distracted with other things." But Hermione didn't look convinced so Harry added an extra sentence he regretted as soon as he said it. "Why don't you ask him?"

With that, Hermione nodded her head, determination flashing in her eyes as she watched Draco walk out of the hall. "I will. Something's up with Malfoy."

Harry's smile dropped as he realised Hermione was serious. "I was joking Hermione. You're not actually going to ask him, are you?" Harry felt his palms clam up thinking of Hermione confronting Draco.

Hermione didn't respond, but he got his answer when she stood up and told them that she'd be back before going in the same direction Draco had. 

*****

Draco swore at himself in his head; something he had been doing a lot these days.

His gaze would just drift to the brown haired boy and stay there, watching how at ease he looked :smiling, laughing, chatting... the opposite of what Draco had been doing lately with his 'friends'. 

He wouldn't have been caught... if it weren't for Granger noticing when even Potter hadn't.

"Malfoy."

It was no surprise that she had followed, he should've known. He turned around and gritted his teeth. "Granger."

She folded her arms, staring intensely at him, "What's going on with you?"

Draco acted oblivious; Potter couldn't have been that stupid to talk about what had happened the day before to his friends. "What's going on with me?"

Granger didn't believe Draco for a second though, raising a brow at him. "Whatever you're planning on doing with Harry, don't."

Bloody hell, Granger, if only she knew how not innocent that sounded, Draco thought to himself. He supressed the laugh that threatened to come out and nodded. "There's nothing going on between Potter and I." _Unfortunately_.

No, not unfortunately, that was fortunate, Draco tried to convince himself.

She stayed quiet, looking him up and down before speaking again. "Uh huh, Harry tells me you two are friends."

He did?

"How lovely." Draco tried to play off his shock with a bored stare, but Hermione had already seen it. 

Time for him to leave, he decided, before Granger would dig deeper and unravel all the secrets he'd been wrapping up. "I'll see you later Granger." He didn't wait for her reply and walked away as quick as he could without running. 

Mental note to himself: Be more cautious around Granger. 


	9. suspicions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter took quite a while to post but i’m back to actual school, not online anymore so :/ anyways, enjoy :)

**Third Person POV:**

Draco couldn't sleep.

As usual.

So he had made his way up to the astronomy tower, successfully avoiding Filch.

He didn't exactly expect, or want, anybody to be up there. Harry and him had moved their 'kissing tips' to when they had the tutoring, so there had been no reason for them to meet up at night.

However, when he saw Harry sitting- or rather sleeping- against the wall, half of his body invisible, most likely by the invisibility cloak slipping down, he didn't feel the annoyance he thought he would've. He so easily could have left, found somewhere else to go, but he could always blame it on his ego; this was his spot, he had come here regularly before Harry, but he knew that wasn't the only reason he stayed.

"Potter."

Unlike last time in his bed, Harry woke up quicker, wiping his eyes with his hands before squinting at Draco. "Malfoy?"

"Yeah." Draco suddenly felt embarrassed under Harry's stare but Harry sensed this, looking away.

"Why are you here?"

Harry shrugged, "Dunno, felt like it."

Harry's tone was casual, much calmer than Draco was feeling on the inside. Draco didn't know if sitting next to him would be the best thing, so he just stayed standing. Harry noticed though, eyeing Draco's tense stance. "I'm not going to leap onto you."

"What?" Had Harry gone mad?

"You're standing so far from me, like I'm gonna attack you or something."

"Who knows what you'll do? Last time you said you wanted a high five but then gave me a hug instead." Draco purposefully didn't mention what had happened after the hug–neither of them needed that reminder right now.

Harry caught on and smiled a smile that made Draco's stomach go all funny. "Swear on my life I won't try anything this time." He held a hand to his heart, watching as Draco's serious expression started to relax.

"You shouldn't swear on anything." Draco lightly reprimanded him, but nevertheless went and sat next to Harry whose smile grew.

"You're like Hermione... but a colder version."

Hearing her name jogged Draco's memory to her saying that Harry had said they were friends. He didn't know why it bothered him so much, he should just forget about it, but his curiosity got a hold of him as he started to speak. "Granger told me that you said we were friends." 

Harry's smile left slowly as his brows furrowed. "I never said that."

Draco couldn't deny the disappointment that ran through him, but he simply played it off with an "Oh."

"But we are friends, aren't we?" Harry's eyes were hopeful as he waited for Draco to reply.

Draco nodded straight away, accidentally showing how eager he was to hear Harry say those words.

After nearly five years, they were finally friends.

He, Draco Malfoy, was friends with Harry Potter, and now he could say (only to himself), that they were friends.

A pleasant silence settled between the two of them before Harry, of course, decided to speak again. "I've been thinking and... I don't think I like Ginny anymore."

Draco had to cover up the smile that fought to appear on his face, settling for an arch of his brow.

"Oh actually, that may have come out wrong. I do like Ginny, but just as a friend."

"Why is that?"

"Well I've really gotten to know her these past few weeks, and it was really great, I can't lie–"

 _Say but, say but, say but_ , Draco was repeating in his head.

"But–" Thank Merlin. "We both agreed that we're better off as friends, I guess I had just mistaken my crush for something bigger, and anyways I think I like–" Harry stopped suddenly, glancing down at the floor.

"Like what?"

"Nobod- Nothing. Shit." Harry cursed, realising he'd just exposed himself. If only Draco could be unobservant and simply move on, but no, Draco immediately noted what Harry was saying.

"You were going to say nobody, you have to tell me now." Draco almost seemed excited, which also would've brightened Harry's mood, if it weren't for the fact Draco's excitement was stemming from Harry's embarrassment.

"I'm not saying anything, nope." Harry folded his lips, shaking his head.

"Okay... but at least a clue?"

"No."

"Come on, why can't I know?"

"Because you can't, so leave it Draco." Harry hadn't actually expected Draco to leave it, so when he got no reply, he looked towards Draco to see him with an almost incredulous look on his face. "What is it?" Harry asked urgently, hoping Draco hadn't somehow been able to piece the puzzle together.

"You called me Draco. Not Malfoy."

Harry nearly let out a sigh of relief at that being all. "We're friends now, I guess, so it doesn't matter too much." Though Harry would've been freaking out more if it wasn't for the knowledge that him calling Draco by his first name was a much better option than allowing things to click into place for Draco.

"Yeah, it's just weird." Draco replied back, decidedly stopping trying to discover what Harry was hiding for now. "Harry, Harry, Harry, how does it sound?" Draco looked towards Harry to see him biting roughly down on his lower lip, the redness being sucked away.

"Are you okay?" Draco felt weird saying that question.

This whole conversation seemed so foreign; him asking if Harry was okay, Harry almost spilling a secret, calling each other by their first names...It was like a fever dream.

"Yes." Harry managed to splutter out. "Don't– Just, stick with Potter for now." He looked conflicted at his own words; he didn't mind Draco calling him by Harry, but the way he said it– God, it evoked dirty thoughts in him, all reminding him of when Draco had moaned his n–

"Why not? You can call me Draco. I can always just call you Harry when we're alone then, and we're alone now, so I'll call you Harry. Harry Potter." All Draco was saying made sense, but every time he said Harry's name, Harry was triggered back to that short night.

Okay, he needed to control himself, this was just Draco, there was no need for him to behave like a feral animal.

It was just Draco.

Draco took the silence as an agreement to what he had said and smiled, nodding his head. "Great, I'm glad you get it too."

"Don't smile like that." It was like their roles had switched: Harry being negative and Draco being positive (Shocker!).

"You really are moody today Harry. How am I smiling like?"

Again with the use of Harry.

"You were being smug, I could see, and you don't always have to use my name. I know you're talking to me, you don't need to say my name to remind me."

"It's for emphasis, _Harry_." If Draco had known to get Harry angry all he had to do was say his first name, that would've been the first thing he would've done when they were younger.

"Yeah, whatever." Harry grumbled, trying to shut the conversation off.

"Don't be mad." Draco rolled his eyes, but a ghost of a smile still remained on his lips.

"I'm not." Harry proved by shuffling closer to Draco, letting their hands skim each other.

Draco shrugged, blocking out how close they were, "Okay, I'll leave it then."

"Thanks."

Draco was sure he'd be able to find out what Harry was going to say soon enough; perhaps when Harry would be sleepy.

Draco's thoughts were cut short when he felt Harry's thumb rubbing circles on his palm. He wasn't sure if Harry was doing it deliberately, but the touch made him shiver–it felt so good– causing him to lean into Harry more until he pulled his hand away and stood up. "I'm sorry, I don't even know wh–" Harry was in the middle of apologising when Draco, who had also stood up, came in front of him.

"Shut up _Harry_."

Harry slightly gaped until he looked in Draco's eyes, seeing the lust in them– but they shouldn't.

They really shouldn't.

They would have no excuse anymore, both of them were fully aware of that, but Draco still leaned in.

Harry could easily twist his head to the side, tell Draco that they couldn't do this, but then it was too late; his lips were on Draco's, and for the fifth time– not as if Harry was counting– Harry was kissing Draco, and Draco was kissing him back.

This time, Draco didn't waste time to be in control, his lips barely staying on Harry's before going down to his neck. Harry threw his head back against the wall, feeling Draco suck on a certain sweet spot that was making him writhe in pleasure. "Don't be– _fuck_." Harry felt Draco kiss the same spot softly and almost melted there and then. "Not too noticeable." He stammered out, but by then, it didn't matter, since Draco's lips were back on his, and he was sure he felt a smirk on Draco's lips, knowing that he had definitely left a mark.

Harry didn't ponder on it for too long though, and ran his hands through Draco's hair, savouring the softness of it, and let out a groan as Draco's hands made their way under his shirt. "Shit, Draco, what are we doing?" Harry breathed out, looking into Draco's dilated pupils.

Draco stood back, running a shaky hand through his hair before he shook his head. "No idea, Harry, I've got no idea."

And for once, Harry and Draco both shared a mutual confusion that took over the silence in the tower.

*******

For the majority of the morning, Harry had been completely out of it, occasionally dozing off before being woken up by Hermione shaking him. He had spent the rest of the night thinking of Draco and he was paying the price for it as he tried to focus on the words falling out of Hermione's mouth.

"Harry! Are you ill or something?"

The sound of his name coming out from Hermione's mouth snapped Harry back into reality as he came face to face with a sighing Hermione and a confused Ron.

"No, no!" Harry denied too eagerly, causing Hermione to raise a brow at him; it was just a simple yes or no question. "I mean," Harry took his tone done a notch. "I'm fine, why?"

"Are you sure? Your lips are looking a bit swollen." Hermione pointed out.

Harry wanted to hide under the table and never come out- he didn't know what to say to Hermione about that, but luck was on his side as Ron butted in, scrunching his face up in annoyance. "Hold on, why are you looking at his lips?"

Harry thanked the heavens for Ron's unconscious distraction that he had given him and still, even whilst on the brink of having his secret exposed, Harry looked over to the Slytherin table whilst Hermione was busy trying to reassure Ron that she had simply noticed it by accident. 

Draco was already looking at Harry, and upon seeing Harry looking back, he bit his lip, a suggestive look in the smirk he gave Harry.

Harry was sure that his cheeks were well on the way to resembling one of an apple, but he couldn't avert his gaze from Draco's face.

"Who are you looking at?"

Yet all his thoughts were once again knocked down by Hermione speaking... When had they finished arguing?

Harry was more prepared for Hermione's questions this time and tried his best to do a relaxed shrug. "Nobody, just thought I saw something weird."

Hermione so obviously didn't believe him, her gaze staying on him for an extra second before slowly nodding her head, starting another conversation that Harry didn't listen to again.

"What do you think then Harry?" Ron turned to him.

Crap.

He hadn't heard one thing they had said, their conversations always seemed to zoom straight past his ears these days. Their faces were still expectant, waiting for an answer that Harry didn't have. "Uh– yes?" Ron and Hermione's heads both tilted to the side slightly, which would've been a bit creepy if it weren't for the fact that he had definitely not answered rightly. "What did you say?"

They both shared a look, but Hermione still summarised what they had said which now made sense of why they had looked confused when he had said yes. "Oh yeah, that wouldn't be right." He agreed with them, feeling satisfied when they both nodded, moving on to another topic that Harry still wasn't paying full attention to, but enough that if they asked him a question, he'd be able to actually answer.

But what he hadn't planned was for the conversation to turn to him. "What's that on your neck?" Ron was the one to question him this time.

His neck? Harry dumbly tried to look down, unable to see what Ron was talking about. What would be on his ne–

Oh no.

He had completely forgotten to put a glamour charm on this morning; waking up late had made him rush to get ready, forgetting all about any evidence on him that could expose what had happened last night.

"Is it your turn to interrogate me?" Harry joked, stalling to think of an excuse. As usual, Ron was able to easily brush away his suspicions and laugh, but stopped when Hermione gave him a glare.

"It's probably a bruise from when I fell last night." Harry lied, seeing in Hermione's face that she wasn't buying it.

"It doesn't look like a bruise." She leaned in to see if she could inspect it at a closer view, but Ron interrupted, thank Merlin, and pushed her gently back to her seat. "Alright, I think that's enough."

Hermione shrugged, a curious glint still in her eyes, but she didn't bring it up again, though knowing Hermione, the first thing she would do as soon as she had the chance to would be to investigate where my 'bruise' had come from.

Harry still risked a glance to the Slytherin table again to see Draco with his jaw clenched as he glowered at Harry. Seeing Harry looking at him, he got up, and practically stormed out of the hall, attracting heads to turn and stare at him.

"Someone's grumpy. Maybe his father never heard about it." Ron snorted.

Harry put on a (hopefully) believable fake smile and laughed with Ron. He tapped his feet against the ground to distract himself from his worrying thoughts about Draco. "I- My bruise is hurting a bit; I think I'll go to the toilets and check to make sure it's okay but you guys can go to our next class without me, I'll meet you there." Harry stood up and left the hall, hearing faint goodbyes.

He felt someone's stare on him and turned around to see Pansy glaring directly at him. He gulped, instantly turning his head back around and not looking at her again.

As soon as he got to the toilets, he checked the stalls to ensure nobody was in there and went straight to the mirror. He unbuttoned the top part of his shirt to find many prominent 'bruises' splattered just below his neck. "Shit, why'd he have to make them so noticeable?" Harry grumbled to himself, pulling out his want to do the glamour spell when he heard a voice, causing him to jump.

"Why'd I have to make what so noticeable?"

Harry could hear Draco's smirk, but still turned around to face him. "You scared me." Were the only words Harry could find to say.

Draco didn't say anything so Harry made his way over to him. "Are you okay?"

"What was Granger doing?"

How kind of him to ignore his question, Harry rolled his eyes.

"She–" Harry went to answer until he realised what Draco’s question would mean. "Wait, you were still watching?"

Harry's thoughts began to run everywhere: How long had he been staring? He hoped that Draco hadn't watched him eat. What if his eating was really ugly? How did he look eating?

"No, I wasn't watching you eating." Draco practically read Harry's mind. "I just happened to look over at the same time that Granger was stuffing her face into your neck instead of her food, like Weasley does." He retorted.

Harry was rendered silent for a second, wondering where all of that had come from.

"Ron just likes his food, don't be rude, and number two, Hermione wasn't _stuffing_ her face into my neck, she thought she saw a bruise on it, and technically, that was your fault." Harry defended, folding his arms.

"My fault?"

"Yes, yours. I told you to not be too obvious." Harry pulled down the collar of his shirt to Draco, as Draco noticed that the top buttons of Harry's shirt were undone, biting his lip as he saw the hickies he had marked Harry with.

Harry could see the look Draco had and quickly cast the glamour charm on his neck, buttoning up his shirt to hide his skin from Draco's burning gaze. "You're looking like you want to give me more. That wasn't the point of me showing you, you should feel bad."

Draco actually seemed apologetic, shaking his head as he looked away. "Sorry." He mumbled, so quietly that Harry wasn't sure if he had heard correctly. He wanted to ask Draco to repeat what he'd said but then the moment would be ruined, and Draco would 100% not say it again.

Harry smiled a bit, placing his hand on Draco's shoulder so he looked up. "It's fine, I was just joking."

"I know, I just–" Draco sighed. "You're not mad at me?"

"No, of course not, though it was a bit difficult for me to try and hide this from Hermione. Next time, somewhere less exposed would be better." Harry's grin grew wider, but Draco's eyes were at full alert from Harry's words. Harry's smile started to leave seeing Draco's face as his brows furrowed. "What? Did I say something wro—"

Harry was about to ask when the door to the bathrooms started to open.

Both of them jumped apart; Draco going to the sinks whilst Harry tucked his wand into his pocket.

"Harry?"

And in walked Ron.

"Malfoy." He sneered, seeing Draco at the sink who rolled his eyes in response, walking out of the toilets, but not before bumping his shoulder into Ron's purposefully.

Ron turned back to Harry who was still looking in the direction of where Draco had been. "You alright? Did Malfoy bother you?"

"Nah, just typical Malfoy." Harry bluffed. "Why'd you come?" He changed the subject from Draco.

Ron straight away forgot about their discussion on Draco and brightened up. "Well, I thought I needed the toilet so I was like _oh yeah, Harry's there too,_ but when I got closer, I realised that I didn't even need it anymore but I was so close that there was no point for me to turn back." He explained animatedly.

The smile came back on Harry's face; he really did love Ron. "Right then, let's go." He nodded, following Ron out.


	10. betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> harry finds that not all things are merry and bubbly in his friendship with draco

**Third Person POV:**

A few days later, Harry hadn't seen much of Draco for a while; apparently he had gone back to the Malfoy Manor for a few days, but now he had come back, and Harry had just spotted him turning the corner and immediately sped after him.

"Draco! You're back?" Draco turned around to see an elated Harry whose mood started to dampen seeing the frown on Draco's face.

"What is it Potter?"

And there went the happiness that Harry had been feeling from before. He took a good look at Draco: his posture was more stiff as the eye bags under his eyes seemed to have increased. There was no sign of light in those thunderstorm eyes, just an impatient Draco eager to get away from Harry as quickly as possible. "Potter?" Harry questioned, they were back to last names?

"Yes, Potter, if you have nothing to say, then I'll be on my way." Draco snapped, going to turn around until Harry grabbed his arm, stopping him.

Draco looked down at Harry's hand on his arm and for a second, his expression softened before a memory flashed in his eyes, and he snatched his arm away from Harry. "Don't touch me."

Harry's mouth visibly opened; where was the Draco from before? Yet Harry still tried to persevere on. "I– I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me this Saturday? You know, that time we talked about trying to sneak some firewhis—"

"I'm busy." Draco's short answer felt like a hit in Harry's heart.

"Oh. Will I see you later then?"

Draco gave the tiniest of a shrug before walking off. He spotted Pansy there and knew what he had to do, stalking up to her. "Can I kiss you?"

Pansy looked up, her eyes wide at Draco's question. "What?"

God, he did not want to repeat it, but he still did. "I want to kiss you."

Pansy didn't know if she should laugh or ask Draco if he'd gone crazy. "What? Why?"

Draco was not giving an explanation for why and simply remained silent so Pansy thought out loud, "Why not then?"

Draco didn't wait a second longer for any doubts to sink in and leaned in, lightly backing her against the wall. He roughly kissed her, desperately trying to get that spark he would with ~~Harry~~ other girls. His hand went to her waist and his body was against hers... but it wasn't the same feeling as that one boy's torso against his.

Pansy seemed to be into it, letting out a little whimper as Draco tried to make the kiss deeper but he couldn't–it just wasn't _him_ – and pulled away. There was no way in hell that he would try and attempt to kiss her in any other place. (The lips had already been enough.) Pansy looked proud, a sly smirk on her face, but Draco felt horrible, underachieved– like he had been aiming for an Outstanding in an exam but had ended up with an Acceptable; it wasn't bad, but there had definitely been so many better ones.

It was Pansy's voice that reminded him that he had really done that. "Looks like the Golden boy likes you." Her tone was taunting, but not towards him, yet he felt rage towards it.

Only he should be able to make fun of Harry like that, Pansy had no right, but then his father's face popped into his mind–how his expression had lit up finding out that a death eater who had been seen in the bed of another man had been crucio'd until his painful death, ' _This is justice, making things right._ ' His father had said, and Draco had had no choice except to solemnly nod.

He didn't turn around to see how Harry looked, he couldn't, because he knew if he did, he wouldn't have the willpower to not run up to him and spill everything that was happening in his brain, but by the time Draco finally turned, Harry had already run off, all left being an empty area.

"So,"

Shit, Pansy was still here?

"I knew you liked me as more than a friend."

Draco snorted, sounding pretentious in even his own ears. "Oh please Pansy, that kiss was one of the worst I've ever had; I'd rather kiss a hufflepuff then ever be forced to put my lips on yours again." And with that, Draco walked off on the opposite path that Harry had been on, hearing a 'but' from Pansy that he ignored. He _had_ led her on a bit with that kiss, but for those comments she would continuously say about Harry, she deserved it.

Harry, however, had no idea of the conflicted thoughts Draco was having, and felt so confused and upset that he almost ran into someone as he turned into a corridor.

"Harry?"

That someone was Hermione.

Harry felt a bit of relief knowing it was only her, but then Draco came back in his head, and he started to feel stressed again. "I'm so stupid Hermione." He ran his hands through his hair as he shook his head repeatedly.

"No you're not. What's going on?" Hermione stared at a panicked Harry, also feeling the confusion at what was going on.

"I think– I like him, Hermione. Fuck." Harry placed his tongue on the roof of his mouth, trying to get the image of Draco kissing... and held his head up high to stop the tears from falling. "And while I'm here losing my mind over him, he's off snogging another girl. I... I just don't understand what I did to him."

"Him?" Hermione herself could admit that wasn't the best response, but even her, one of the smartest people in the year, could admit that Harry had just revealed a lot.

She had suspected that Harry was having a fling with someone; after finding out the 'bruises' on his neck were hickies and that's why he had been so embarrassed about the topic, but she hadn't thought he could be bisexual, or any other sexualities, but then she had never asked, so it wasn't anybody's fault. "Who is he?" She curiously asked, not many names coming to her head of who Harry could've become infatuated with.

"Promise me you won't get mad." Harry looked into Hermione's eyes that held sympathy and pity.

"I promise." How would she even think to get mad?

"Drac– Malfoy." He shifted his gaze to the ground, not sure if he wanted to see Hermione's reaction.

Hermione was shocked, but then she wasn't, but then she was, and now she didn't know how to feel. "Malfoy?" She repeated, watching as Harry nodded his head.

Draco, Harry's sworn school nemesis.

Draco, the boy who had wanted to make Harry's life a living hell since the day he rejected a handshake.

Draco, the boy who would gladly jump to the side of anyone who would go against Harry and find pleasure in it.

 _That_ Draco was the one Harry was upset about.

But then if she thought back to the interactions between Draco and Harry over the past few months, it began to make sense. She had assumed it was just Harry being nice, seeing the good in everyone, but then Draco had also seemed to tone down on his insults too. He no longer would call Hermione a mudblood, or use every moment he could to make fun of their trio or other people, though he still did have his moments where his ego would get the best of him, but then he would look towards Harry, and Hermione had found that strange, but then something else would be happening and she'd forget all about it.

But now Draco had done something wrong and this was not the time for Hermione to dwell on how blind sighted she had been, so obsessed with her exams that she had turned a blind eye to her own best friend's love life. The rage came back in Hermione's eyes as she realised that Draco had messed up badly for Harry to be this upset. "What did that bloody punk do now?"

Hermione could see Harry's shoulders slightly relax, understanding that he wasn't going to get a lecture or a fight from her at the fact he had told her it was Draco. "As much as you'd love to, don't hex him, it's not entirely his fault, I shouldn't have read into things that weren't there."

"So you're saying he was kissing someone else? A girl?"

"Yeah." Harry cringed, thinking back about the memory. It had never been confirmed, and he had always hoped against it, that Pansy and Draco were a thing, but they were perfect for each other.

Both Slytherins, both purebloods and... they were a boy and a girl.

A heterosexual relationship.

"Parkinson."

Hermione felt even worse for Harry who was chewing on his lip harshly, almost drawing out blood. "Well how about we start from the beginning?" She suggested.

Harry nodded slowly, looking back up into Hermione's eyes.

"Let's go outside, there'll be less people there." She linked her arm with Harry, leading him outside with her.

Somewhere so far, but so close, Draco sat leaned up against his door, his whole room a mess. In his frustration, he had knocked down anything that had gotten in his way and pulled out the note his father had given him to read after he had left the Manor:

_Draco,_

_Word has come to me of your growing association with Harry Potter. For the safety of your family and yourself, do caution yourself on how close that relationship grows. Your mother worries you are lonely, and encourages you seek a companion, a pure blood witch who can assist you in your duties._

_Do take my words seriously, for I will not bring up his name again and do not want to hear anymore of this relation with that boy._

_L.M._  
  


*****

"So when I told you to go practise with somebody you weren't close with, you chose... Malfoy?" Hermione still chose to focus on the first part of the story on how, and why, Harry had chosen _Draco_ as his perfect candidate to help him.

Harry groaned, running a hand through his hair. He knew he was stupid, he didn't need Hermione to confirm that again. "Yes, I know, I know, I definitely regret it now."

"Only now?"

"Yes, only now, I wouldn't take back anything that happened between him and I." He snapped in a way that made her wince but he instantly regretted it and calmed down. "I'm sorry, you did nothing wrong, I shouldn't be taking this out on you when you're just trying to help." He apologised in a rush. "I'm just... mad, I guess. Mad at him, but more mad at myself for being so naïve and trusting him. He's Draco Malfoy for God's sake and I _still_ wanted to give him a chance."

"Don't blame yourself. Presuming all you told me is how things happened–" Hermione arched a brow, Harry nodding in response. (Well, most of it, he thought to himself.) "– then I would think he had the same feelings back."

"Really?" Harry got excited but then his mood was immediately put out when he realised that if Draco really liked him in that way, he wouldn't have gone up to Pansy and snogged the living daylights out of her. "I don't think so."

"If you excuse my bias, I think he led you on. You two sounded... _close_." Hermione was still getting to terms that Harry, the boy who had just said he liked Ginny, now liked Draco.

Ginny... then Draco.

There just didn't seem to be much correlation between the two.

"The worst thing is that I still bloody like him, even after he's done that." Harry stood up off of the bench they were sitting on and started to pace in front of Hermione, reminding her of the times before Qudditch games against Slytherin. Was that because of Draco too? Hermione wondered. "What do I do, Mione? Do I ignore him, talk to him, shout at him? I really just wish I hadn't been such a sap over him."

"It's not your fault at all." Hermione stood up too, standing in front of Harry so he'd stop walking. "So he really just left you and kissed Parkinson?"

"Yes." Harry answered dolefully.

Hermione had on her concentrated look, tapping her foot against the ground. "And he went home recently?"

"Yeah, he's been gone for the past week."

"Ah." Hermione appeared like she had figured something out but Harry didn't get it all and asked what she meant by that. "Would his parents have been at home?"

"I don't know, probably." Harry still didn't understand how Draco's parents and him kissing Pansy were related.

"Has he talked to you about his family's views?"

"Views on what? He's talked a bit about how they're strict and stuff, but only because they love him, he claims."

"Hm." Homosexuality wasn't as looked down upon as it was in the muggle world, but that didn't mean that homophobia didn't still exist. Especially in more conservative families: like the Malfoys. If they were so fixated on blood status, and having a legacy, Hermione was quite sure that they'd also have strong views on homosexuality. "I say do talk to him later, but for now, keep your distance. You might need a bit of time to think through what this means. You two were never official, of course, but by what you've said, it's obvious you two were just an unlabelled couple." Hermione told him truthfully and sat back down, Harry sitting next to her again. 

He nodded his head, all his thoughts on Draco. Hermione could sense this and put her arm around his shoulder, pulling him in so his head was against her chest, breathing in her sweet scent. Harry gladly accepted the comforting for at least he knew Hermione was still there, and that he would do anything to not lose her too. 


End file.
